Global trends to 2030 : shaping the future in a fast-changing world

On behalf of the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS), it is a great pleasure to welcome you to the 2018 Annual Conference, which convenes under the timely theme 'Global Trends to 2030: Shaping the Future in a Fast-Changing World.' Once again, the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC) and the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) are hosting this two-day event. With a view to generating fresh insights for the next edition of the ESPAS Global Trends to 2030 Report, which will be published in Spring 2019, we are hosting thought leaders, global foresight practitioners, and strategists from around the world to explore major social, economic, technological and geopolitical trends that will shape Europe and the world over the coming decade. Global power shifts, pressure on liberal democracies, challenges to global governance, the transformation of economic models and of the very fabric of societies, new uses and misuses of technology, humanity's growing ecological footprint: the world may be on the cusp of a new geopolitical, geo-economic and geotechnological order. Against this backdrop, how can the European Union ensure that it holds its destiny in its own hands? What must it do to better prepare and shape the future, tackling emerging challenges and seizing the opportunities that will arise?