KEMs
Vision & imagination
GOAL
Dot on the horizon
Giving direction to change by researching, designing and/or visualizing a (shared) goal.
PHASE IN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Discover
APPLICATION
- Mapping, analyzing, and understanding the autonomously developing future.
- Exploring new forms of seeing and thinking.
- Get inspired for new ideas.
- (Jointly) determine direction.
- Mapping out the route to a (shared) goal.
What does it entail?
What does this category entail?
KEMs within the Vision & Imagination category help us map the current world, envision new worlds, and view phenomena and problems differently. This allows us to explore our (desired) future and ultimately guide change.
Why is that important?
For every societal challenge, it is necessary to know where we are heading – like a dot on the horizon. Sometimes that goal is obvious, but more often it is necessary to design that goal. By making an inspiring vision of the future visible and tangible together and/or mapping out the route to get there, direction and support can be created for the necessary change.
When do you apply these KEMs?
For questions such as:
- How do you design a vision of the future?
- How does the vision of the future help us to direct interventions in the present and in the medium term?
- How do you bring together the interests of stakeholders to jointly design and develop a desired direction?
What methods are there?
Within Vision & Imagination there are roughly three clusters:
Foresight & imagination
Under foresight (explorations) include methods that help map, analyze, and understand the autonomously developing future and environment. This knowledge can then provide us with important input in devising and designing the necessary change.
Explorations can be general or focus on specific areas such as technology explorations (Jansen, 1994) and learning curves, market or economic explorations or environmental or landscape explorations. The core challenge for explorations is how to deal with uncertainties that the future inherently knows.
Well-known methods are:
- Scenario analysis
- Trend analysis
- Delphi
Imagination (imagination) is the ability to conjure up mental images, ideas and/or feelings, without perceiving them with the senses. Imagination gives us the space to search for new ways of seeing and thinking. With this we can gain inspiration and generate new ideas. In this way, imagination can be seen as an important basis for innovation and development.
Well-known methods are:
- Scenario thinking
- Visualizations
- Storytelling (telling stories)
Shared vision development
Within this cluster fall methods that help to develop a perspective on a possible or desirable future and thereby arrive at visions that are supported by all those involved. This often concerns integral visions of the world of tomorrow including all relevant aspects – including values, technology and social developments.
Well-known methods focused on (product) design are:
- Design Fiction (speculative design)
- Technology Pyramid
- Visual thinking
- Frame Innovation (Thirst, 2015)
- Vision in Design (VIP) (Hekkert & van Dijk, 2011)
Pathways
Pathways do not so much support the establishment of a mission or vision, but help to map out the path to it. They map out how and through which mechanisms and actors impact is achieved.
Well-known methods are:
- Backcasting (Robinson, 1982)
- Forecasting
- Roadmapping and more specifically Technology roadmapping (Hasberg et al., 2012)
- Mission driven
- Innovation policy (Goetheer et al., 2018)
- Transition management (Loorbach, 2007)
- Participatory Impact Pathway Analysis (Blokdyk, 2019)
Vision & Imagination in practice
Methods
The first digital KEM monitor was published at the end of 2025. This concise, English-language trend report offers a current and concise overview of the most important developments in Key Enabling Methodologies (KEMs) over the past year. New methodological developments, insights, and research questions are mapped out for each KEM category.
Methods
The KEM compass is a discussion tool that helps project teams jointly determine an effective project approach. This tool was developed by CLICKNL in collaboration with the KEM network.
