Ever since...

Ever since, the BSUF has organized 50 post-university international courses annually that enjoyed each year 1,000 participants (from more than 40 countries). Among the themes of the courses a leading place was held by Prospective (present stage, methods) and prospective studies in various domains.

Issues of special interest to our region and to the societies in transition were approached and treated in the light of the prospective (future of the professions, of the universities, of the cities, etc. One general course on Prospective was held by Hugues de Jouvenel of Futuribles, Paris. Among the study centers set up by the Foundation, one that distinguished itself is the National Center for Sustainable Development.

In collaboration with the Romanian Academy and with the support of the UNDP, it developed the first Strategy for Sustainable Development of Romania, which was supported by Trade Unions and the Employers associations and endorsed by the Cabinet in 1999. The Black Sea University Foundation resumed and developed its ties with UNESCO’s prospective thinking centers, the Club of Rome, the WFSF, the WFS etc. It also initiated the editing of a quarterly review, Millennium III .

Among the members of the board are Ricardo Diez-Hochleitner, Sergei Kapitza, Lawrence Klein and Ilya Prigogine (Nobel Prize laureates), Federico Mayor, Jean d’Ormesson, Ernst Ulrich Weizsäcker, Roseann Runte and Pentti Malaska . Furthermore, the Foundation established ties with the Forward Studies Unit of the EU and consequently Scenarios Europe 2010 was translated into Romanian under the aegis of Millennium III .

was published in April 2000 in view of a large debate to which the authors of the Scenarios were invited to participate. The Foundation’s main aim was to enhance the awareness about foresight in Romania and to stimulate the production of studies capable of supporting the country’s sustainable development. The Foundation shall play host to WFSF’s World Conference in 2001. BSUF also devotes its activities to training.

Thus, the most recent initiative based on the experience of the Conflict Prevention Center that works under the aegis of the Foundation was the creation of the Five-Seas Academy (the five seas being the ones that surround the South-East of Europe). Also, it is worth mentioning that out of the eleven member countries of BSEC governmental organization, six are Balkan ones. The area of the Center’s concerns is that of the Black Sea and Balkan South-East.