Report on Seminal Futuring Gathering

It seems there is growing recognition of the need for futures thinking in the New Zealand Government. Starting next year for example, all Chief Executives of government departments will be required to provide independent briefings to government ministers on medium and long-term trends, risks, and opportunities that may affect New Zealand. That is the first time government departments have been required to do futures thinking in a public way in Aotearoa. It is happening as a result of a clause in the new Public Service Act 2020 that requires CEs to provide a briefing at least every three years. This development is part of a wave of new futuring initiatives emerging across government. Perhaps COVID-19 has woken us up to the vulnerability and changeability of our world, along with multiple crises of the environment, society and economy.  Collectively, we are beginning to see the need to look wisely to our future.

In recognition of this growing need and interest in futures thinking, Yvonne spearheaded a gathering to lay some groundwork for new futuring initiatives in Aotearoa. The meeting took place via Zoom in March this year. It was hosted by Girol Karacaoglu, Head of the School of Government at Victoria University and author of the recently published book “Love You: Public Policy for Intergenerational Wellbeing”.  The facilitator was Simon Wright from Trust Democracy NZ, an incorporated society dedicated to strengthening public discourse, education and democracy in Aotearoa. The meeting gathered just over twenty people with knowledge and experience in public policy, futuring, deliberative democracy, lifelong learning, statistics, economics, community organising, media and communications. 

Click here to read the full report on the meeting.

The meeting started with wide open questions and aimed to build a broad context for establishing new futuring initiatives in Aotearoa: 

• What are the gaps, opportunities, and obstacles to futuring in Aotearoa? 

• Do we need a new organisation, process or forum to address them? 

• What is needed now for futuring to be effective for helping us recognise and adapt to challenges in future?

The intention was to gather different perspectives, share ideas, spark new conversations and develop relationships that can grow to become part of a proactive solution. 

One of the key insights from the meeting was that we are not starting from scratch.  Forty years ago New Zealand was a world leader in futures thinking. Our “Commission for the Future”, established in the 1970s was one of the first central government futuring agencies in the world. Its mandate was to study the possibilities of economic and social development and to convey findings to politicians and wider society. When it was disbanded in 1982, its mandate was taken up by the New Zealand Futures Trust, an NGO that operated until 2013 and by Future Watch, which produced a futures scanning digest. Although the profile of futuring has not always been high, we have decades of experience and and expertise to draw on. Aotearoa is a very different place now compared with the 1970s, and we realise that new solutions and approaches will be needed. But this rich legacy can help us find a wise path forward.

To draw together and share the insights and perspectives from the gathering, we have produced this report.  We would love to grow this conversation, so please send us your thoughts and comments.