Planning for Uncertainty: Scenarios and Foresight for Local Government

This webinar will introduce participants to practical tools for mapping value, identifying uncertainty, and making strategic decisions in local government, through and beyond the current pandemic.

As the globe is racked by uncertainty and instability, how can we navigate a moment where the ground for our decisions seems to be constantly shifting?

Beyond questions of epidemiology, what are the wider social and political ramifications of COVID-19 and our response to it?

How do we plan for a future which is difficult to model or predict, when what lies ahead may look nothing like our experience in the past?

This session draws on methods including the Oxford scenario planning technique and the Value Creating Systems (VCS) approach. It introduces effective, accessible tools which participants can immediately use to inform their strategic decision-making as they look through the current crisis to the long term, and whatever waits on the “other side” of the pandemic – however far away that lies.

The facilitator: Matt Finch of mechanicaldolphin.com is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of Southern Queensland and a regular facilitator on the scenarios course at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. Recent foresight projects include the future of Norwegian schools for the University of Oslo, and the future of Australia’s energy sector for Energy Consumers Australia. Matt is currently a consultant on the IMAJINE project for the future of regional equality across the European Union.