Environmental Policy and Technological Change: Towards Deliberative Governance

The future studies have made a remarkable comeback under the label of foresight (Martin and Irvine, 1989). The aera where these future studies have gained a new ground are foresight processes at the intersection of environmental policy and technology policy to initiate technological innovations that contribute to the fulfilment of environmental objectives, like reducing emissions, prevent pollution and cleaning industrial processes. The two linked and ambiguous questions at the heart of these foresights are the following one: 1.Which new environmental problems could stimulate technological innovation?2.Which new technologies might contribute significantly to the solution of environmental problems?