Teaching a Futures-Seeking Communicative Policy Process

This article examines how teaching in regional planning at the Department of Regional Studies and Environmental Policy of the University of Tampere in Finland provides students with views of development and modes of thinking about planning that bind together futures-oriented strategic thinking and interactive communicative policy processes. First, the ongoing change in policy-making procedures is surveyed with the help of the concepts of government of uncertainty and governance of ambiguity. Second, attention is focused on futures-seeking communicative strategy, which is one form of governance of ambiguity. Third, a course in regional planning is briefly presented as an example of both innovative teaching methods and of the combining of policy processes and futures-seeking strategic planning.