A project “Foresight of reference laboratory operations in the environmental field” has been implemented as part of the Finnish Government's study and research plan in 2018. The objectives of the project were: (1) Identifying key change factors affecting the reference laboratory activities (2), Identifying the impact of key factors on the role of reference laboratory operations in the future (3), Clarifying the common intention of different actors in their future roles, (4) Identifying central future value sites in reference laboratory operations now and in the future, (5) Identifying, for example, different operation models, with which the pressure of the change factors on the change of operation can be solved in practice, and  (6) Presenting the impact of reference laboratories now and in a planned time set in future.

The reference laboratory will serve other laboratories in the field to maintain quality and competence. The tasks of the reference laboratories include, inter alia, maintenance of reference measurement equipment and know-how. The environment is widely understood as everything from the natural environment to urban and other built-up areas.  Foresight can be summarized as an approach to shaping the future and support decision-making. The main method of the study was the Delphi method, but other hybrid management and planning methods were applied too.

The “Laboratories 2030” project has its own points of convergence with the research literature on innovation research, risk society, expert panel studies, and research on public-private cooperation networks. The research project was interdisciplinary, so the points of scientific convergence are also interdisciplinary. In our paper, we present the findings of the project and link the key results to the main themes of the PASCAL 2022 conference.

Based on the results of the Delphi expert panel, the most important change factors affecting reference laboratory operations include automation of measurement operations, corporations of laboratory operations, internationalization and centralization, customer-manufacturer thinking, measured objects, and resource-saving circular economy.

In connection with the development of laboratory functions, it would be important to think carefully about qualitative issues. It is necessary to consider separately which are the measurement objects, the correctness of which should be ensured under all circumstances. They could be, for example, measurement targets related to human health, water quality, and other basic necessities in life.

The competence of reference laboratories was seen as the most important guarantee of the quality of measurement operations and reliability of maintenance. With the expertise of reference laboratories, reliable measurement operations can be quickly scaled up. Closer international cooperation of reference laboratories helps to identify the state of one's own competence in relation to others. The quality of measurement operations and the rapid expansion of measurement operations required in crises are guaranteed by developing the expertise and working conditions of reference laboratories, as well as by resources to maintain the attractiveness of the field of reference laboratories.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that reference laboratories play a key role in society. For example, the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare has played a central role in expanding the capacity of measurement and testing activities related to the pandemic.