This approach could help to reveal the ingredients of success for global cooperation. Numerous non-governmental organisations in complex networks currently aim to solve complex problems such as climate change and the challenges related to Sustainable Development Goals. And yet they often achieve far less than they hope. A better understanding of the way organisations should interact to achieve specific goals could change this.
Negotiation engineering has already achieved a number of practical successes. For instance, in the diplomatic sphere, the approach played a crucial role in the Land Transport Agreement between Switzerland and the European Union and in facilitating nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of nations.10
Negotiation engineering does not intend to replace face-to-face discussion and neither does it seem likely to ever do so. It may in some cases also have limited application: not all problems are quantifiable or should be reduced to a quantitative level. However, in cases when a negotiation involves problems with a particular degree of complexity and actors with a certain level of analytical capacity open to a rational approach, Negotiation engineering can allow for more logical accuracy in finding pragmatic solutions while building trust between mediators. To that end, significant capacity-building is required for future development.
The Anticipation Potential of a research field is determined by the capacity for impactful action in the present, considering possible future transformative breakthroughs in a field over a 25-year outlook. A field with a high Anticipation Potential, therefore, combines the potential range of future transformative possibilities engendered by a research area with a wide field of opportunities for action in the present. We asked researchers in the field to anticipate:
This chart represents a summary of their responses to each of these elements, which when combined, provide the Anticipation Potential for the topic. See methodology for more information.
