Setting Policy Targets for the Future of Agriculture in Eu 2020 – A Methodological Approach

Setting targets in a foresight exercise is of crucial importance for both orienting future policy directions as well as assessing the achievement of policy concerns. The focus of the present paper is on the development of a methodological framework for setting objectives and targets in a foresight study. This framework builds upon a range of approaches that run in parallel in order to assure that all important issues as to the problem at hand are taken into consideration, while it is also combined with participatory approaches, where experts’ knowledge is used for serving validation purposes. The framework developed is then applied in AG2020 - a foresight exercise at the EU level, exploring potential policy options for the sustainable development of agriculture in EU by 2020 - with the aim to present the experience gained and difficulties raising towards finalizing objectives and targets used in this specific foresight exercise.