Locations
In today's world of uncertainty, governments' capacity to forecast and prepare for the future is has become more crucial than ever. UNDP’s Accelerator Lab in South Sudan recognised this gap and in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Service and Human Resource Development developed an Experimental Workshop on Foresight and Anticipatory Policy Development targeted at policy experts and implementers from the different national ministries and commissions to explore the future forward policies through a series of workshops.
Why bother envision the future when the present demands so much?
Long-term thinking responds to, equips and prepares teams and individuals to address today’s current pressing needs with solutions that build towards a more resilient and sustainable tomorrow. Yet, as we learned during the Anticipatory Policy Development Workshop, the long-term perspective is not just an incentive—rather, a necessity and without a shared vision of the future, decisions made today may fall short of the transformative impact we need.
As South Sudan progresses toward sustainable development; fostering strategic foresight and innovative policymaking will be critical to its governance structure. The insights learned from these workshops emphasize the necessity of continual learning, experimentation, and cooperation in developing a resilient, inclusive, and future-proof governance framework.
Building a Vision Together: A Foundation for Change
The first phase of our foresight initiative centered on building awareness and foundational capacity for strategic foresight in public service. This week-long second phase of the workshop, translated theory into application, challenging participants to engage in real-world anticipatory policy design of emerging issues leading to the development of several draft policies addressing critical areas such as climate resilience, inclusive governance, and sustainable development.
These policies are slated for integration into the South Sudan Vision 2040, a national framework aimed at creating a united, peaceful, and prosperous nation founded on robust democratic governance and sustainable development principles. For instance, participants co-created actionable strategies to improve agricultural productivity through modernized practices, ensuring food security while addressing environmental challenges. These outputs reflect a shift from reactive governance to forward-looking, collaborative policymaking. Through collaboration and co-creation, participants worked to imagine South Sudan’s future, navigate uncertainties, and translate these visions into actionable policies. This approach emphasizes that shaping a desired future is not the task of a few—it is a collective effort carried by many.
Starting in the Future: A New Approach to Policy Making
What sets anticipatory policy making apart?
Is its departure from linear projections of the future, for example, during the workshop, participants envisioned a future where agricultural modernization addressed both food security and climate challenges. Then using back casting techniques, they identified actionable steps to achieve this vision, such as introducing drought-resistant crops and investing in sustainable irrigation systems.
This approach not only clarified long-term goals but also influenced immediate decisions about resource allocation and policy focus, creating a direct pathway from vision to impact. Instead of beginning with the constraints of today, participants started by envisioning a desired future. Tapping into tools like horizon scanning and the Futures Wheel allowed them to explore emerging trends and potential consequence, creating a comprehensive view of possible scenarios. These exercises trained their “divergent thinking muscle,” enabling them to break free from reactive decision-making, while expanding the range of options available and empowering them to actively shape South Sudan's future.
A Journey from Vision to Action
Referencing ideas from the previous workshop, the second training was more a hands-on approach encouraging participants to use foresight techniques in actual policy making settings. The workshop’s design mirrored the anticipatory policy cycle, moving from envisioning to planning, directly supporting UNDP’s strategic goals of resilience, inclusivity, and sustainable development. By integrating this cycle into policy processes, the workshop not only addressed immediate needs but also provided a structured framework for long-term transformation, ensuring alignment with donor priorities.
1. Exploring Future Possibilities:
Participants analyzed weak signals, trends, and uncertainties to identify pathways for change.
2. Defining Priorities:
Trend analysis highlighted key areas where policy interventions could make the greatest impact.
3. Mapping Risks and Opportunities:
Back casting helped translate future visions into concrete steps, while tools like the Futures Wheel visualized the ripple effects of policy decisions.
4. Co-Creating Solutions:
Collaborative stress-testing exercises—including red-teaming—challenged assumptions and ensured the robustness of policy proposals.
5. Finalizing and Validating:
The week concluded with actionable policy drafts aligned with South Sudan’s strategic goals.
Collective Impact: More Than Just Policies
The workshop employed a multi-method approach, integrating foresight, design, and behavioral methods, amongst others. Practical tools, such as the Futures Wheel and back casting, were paired with deeper explorations of different ways of knowing—cognitive and relational—including methods fostering collective social conditions like trust, openness, and mutual understanding. These relational dynamics played a critical role in enabling transformative policy designs.
Techniques fostering collective conditions for trust and openness allowed participants to connect meaningfully, challenging siloed thinking, and engage in critical discussions. This approach not only strengthened the resulting policies but also underscored the foundational importance of relational dynamics and inclusivity in governance.
One participant remarked, “Starting policy development with a strong vision and working backward has been transformative. It’s not just about what we do—it’s about who we want to become as a nation.”
A Vision for South Sudan’s Future
The workshop aligned with UNDP’s strategic goals of fostering resilience, inclusivity, and sustainable development, as articulated in its 2022-2025 Strategic Plan, which emphasized anticipatory governance, structural transformation, and inclusive decision-making to address multidimensional risks and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Equipping South Sudan’s leaders with foresight tools and methodologies, has laid the groundwork for governance that is not only responsive to immediate needs but also anticipatory of future challenges and opportunities. To ensure lasting impact, plans are in place to integrate these tools into routine policy-making processes through follow-up training cross-ministerial foresight teams and embedding foresight practices within ministerial structures and processes.
This approach aims to institutionalize innovative governance by working on mindset, behavioral change, and practical adoption across organizations, ensuring foresight becomes a day-to-day tool for policy makers. These initiatives aim to institutionalize anticipatory practices, enabling South Sudan to continually adapt and innovate in response to emerging trends and challenges.
As the workshop demonstrated, balancing short-term priorities with long-term vision is not an either-or choice. It is the only way to create a resilient and adaptive governance system capable of navigating complexity and uncertainty. By keeping sight of the future, South Sudan’s leaders are taking crucial steps toward shaping a tomorrow that reflects the hopes and aspirations of its people.
Moving Forward
This is just the beginning. The policy drafts created during the workshop will require further refinement, collaboration, and iteration. But the seeds have been planted. With continued support from UNDP and other stakeholders, the lessons from this workshop can inspire broader adoption of anticipatory approaches, ensuring that South Sudan’s policies are not just reactive but transformative.
In a world where the future often feels uncertain, South Sudan’s journey shows us that having a vision is not just inspiring—it’s essential.
Acknowledgments
This initiative of introducing innovation in public service was in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Service and Human Resource Development and facilitated by Demos Helsinki with funding support from the Government of Germany and the Government of the State of Qatar. Your support in shaping the future of governance in South Sudan is truly inspiring. We continue to journey together—because the future starts today.
Co-Written by:
Jacqueline Poni, Head of Experimentation and Isabella Gady, Senior Expert, Demos Helsinki
