Designing a moving strategic foresight approach: ontological and methodological issues of scenario design

Purpose – This paper aims to introduce movements in scenario methodology, to design a moving strategic foresight approach. Design/methodology/approach – The authors firstly question the limits of plausibility from an ontological and epistemological perspective to expand scenarios beyond the boundaries of end-states. To incorporate ongoing changes in scenario methodology, the authors propose to explore scenario transformations within the conceptual framework of action-based scenarios. Findings – The authors discuss consequences of playing strategies within ongoing scenarios, as well as the research directions about moving scales, stakeholders’ dominance and time issues. Originality/value – The paper proposes a method to distort and transform scenarios. The authors suggest supplementing strategic foresight in iterative processes to challenge the boundaries of plausible futures, bridging the gap between theoretical ever-changing processes and the moving rhythms of actions.