The Center for European Futures (CEF) is a research center and think thank devoted to the study and analysis of European societies – both within and outside the European Union – and their possible futures.
We understand future in plural: the CEF – consistently with the vision of the Italian Institute for the Future – conceive indeed future as an open and complex space. It is open because it is not ‘linearly’ pre-determined by the characteristics and dynamics of the present; it is complex because we see it as the outcome of the interaction of a potentially unlimited set of variables and their configurations, sedimented in the past and/or materialized in the present.
In terms of research and analysis, the CEF encourages activities that aspire to combine analytical rigour with an interdisciplinary while critical approach. The goal of the CEF is to foster an in-depth understanding of social phenomena, their societal impact, and their possible futures. The CEF focuses its activities around four main units: (I) research and analysis; (II) scientific dissemination; (III) education (especially for young students); (IV) consultancy.
Finally, the CEF promotes a vision of Europe based on social and economic development that is socially inclusive, sustainable for the environment, and aimed at strengthening multilevel and transnational democratic processes (from the local to the supranational level). At the same time, the CEF supports the development of cooperation relations and mutual exchange, in Europe and beyond.
