What is Development Futures Thinking? It is essentially the powers of foresight and looking towards the horizon. The RDI Network has been working on a Development Futures Project that will create a higher level of conversation and broader level understanding of development effectiveness, and to be a catalyst for change in development thinking, discourse, and ideology.
The Network plans to establish the some of the ways future thinking can be facilitated through open workshops, , and experiential journeys documenting the ‘foresighting’ adventure.
Why? Creating insights and interest into the ‘where are we going’ of development work is a key aspect of the project. If we can identify the predicted futures, then the pathways towards that future or away from that future can be developed and planned.
The process of future thinking involves three main steps:
- Scanning and identifying trends, hazards, and challenges in the development space.
- Responding to the real or imagined scenarios created around these recognised trends, hazards, and challenges.
- Designing novel solutions and strategies to address ongoing or unexpected priority hazards and challenges.
Sneak peak into some of the exciting aspects of the futures workshops:
- Scenario planning workshops to discuss, debate and plan for changing futures of development.
- Workshop participants will tailor the debates on development futures based upon the ideas and evidence that they share on development to identify pathways for possible development futures that will support human and ecological flourishing.
- Development futures within these workshops can be specific to the participants area of development aid and what it is for them.
- Through the workshop’s participants will also build upon the skills of trend identification and visioning of potential futures.
Development Futures Workshop Series
The Workshop Series is coming soon and EOIs are currently being accepted. To find out more about the Workshop Series and to access the EOI forms please click here.
