“The future we imagine is the future we create.” ~ Stuart Candy

“The future we imagine is the future we create.”
Stuart Candy

When you think about the future, what do you imagine? Each of us has a unique vision of the future, one that has been shaped by our experiences, our worldview, our hopes, fears and dreams.

At the 2024 Environmental Flows Conference, we are coming together to shape the future of water stewardship. But in an era of disruptive change and competing priorities, how can we collectively shape a future that considers our diverse perspectives and serves multiple needs?

To frame this question, event organizers have designed a delegate experience and conference program to leverage the potential of strategic foresight.

Foresight is about considering the changes that are happening, noticing them, and using a deliberate process to leverage what we are noticing to imagine possible futures. Strategic foresight places us in those futures and asks, what if? What would serve this future? How would we reach our vision and goals if these things happened?

As a programming element at the Environmental Flows Conference in March, we will use strategic foresight’s structured and systematic approach of using ideas about the present and the future to anticipate and better prepare for change.

• A thought-provoking series of short talks will highlight relevant content, showcase new ideas, and unearth the diverse perspectives and deep knowledge held by delegates.

• In a program curated to inspire and empower, conference participants will examine forces of change that are influencing the present, and consider ways in which important drivers, broad influences such as climate change, the rapid growth of AI, or regulatory processes might play out over time.

Through the process of strategic foresight, delegates can develop their sensitivities to change, grasp big picture implications for the future, and prepare themselves with skills to make better decisions for the short and medium term .