What if your city could pick itself up and move? What if your community wasn’t tied to a street, a suburb, or even a country? What does it mean to belong somewhere, and does that somewhere need to be fixed? How might climate events change impact and what does this mean for the way we plan, scan and act today? These were some of the questions we explored at this month’s What if Wednesday.
Following the Aotearoa Futures Forum 2026 fourteen practitioners, leaders, and activators from across Oceania gathered to explore what makes Oceania futures practice distinctive.
Our conversation moved from “What future do we want?” to “What are we being called to care for?” This question guided us as we continued to explore the future of our region. We recognised that some callings are global but we also considered the specific characteristics related to our contexts – personally, nationally and across Oceania.
Meanjin Brisbane, venue for the second Oceania Futures and Foresight Symposium – an important gathering of futures practitioners from across the region. This Symposium is part of intentional work to grow futures practices that are uniquely from ‘down under’, reflecting our histories, time flows and world views. We are voyagers of the blue Pacific, connecting earth, sea and sky and coming together to navigate the future together.
The Aotearoa Futures Barometer summarises research about what New Zealanders think of the future, in order to consider next steps to develop a thriving country. It is our hope that this Barometer seeds further conversations and adds to the conversation about the Aotearoa New Zealand that we want. What is our ambition?
Over the last six months I have been collating Intergenerational Ambition: A Wayfinding Tool for the Future. This resource explores the Aotearoa context for intergenerational fairness and future generations. We are the people who must create the way forward. This resource shares some of the why and how.
The Possibility Wheel helps groups explore issues more deeply by examining underlying assumptions, which I think is one of the most important parts of futuring. The tool encourages users to identify the key question, surrounding assumptions, and theories of action, thus encouraging a more comprehensive analysis of an issue. It’s value lies in its ability to help people move beyond initial assumptions and consider unintended consequences, ultimately leading to more thoughtful decision-making. I tested this approach with school leaders, using the topical issue of school lunches in New Zealand as an example.
At this week’s #ŌtautahiFuturesCollective #ŌFC gathering Alicia Poroa shared how she facilitated a personal futures wānanga with a group of Māreikura, female Māori leaders from the North Island. She used a number of futures methodologies with deep, personal insights that are so important for us all to consider.
On September 27, 2024, thirty students from the University of Canterbury’s bachelor of Social and Environmental Sustainability and Political Science gathered for the Intergenerational Fairness Hopeful Futures workshop. The event, run by Think Beyond, aimed to explore intergenerational fairness in Ōtautahi Christchurch and envision a hopeful future for the city.
In my last post I shared my emerging model for unbounded futures and how past, present and future are interwoven. There is so much we learn from the past and this in turn shapes our world view, which in turn shapes our actions. The conversations are particularly polarising at the moment and I find myself digging deep into my futures toolkit to keep me grounded and curious. It reinforces that developing a futures mindset is a critical counterbalance for coping in an uncertain world.
2023 was a catalyst year for exploring intergenerational fairness in Aotearoa New Zealand. 2024 is a year to accelerate this focus and to work with others locally, nationally and globally who are committed to considering future generations in our decision making.