Strategic Foresight for Better Public Policies

Description

This course introduces concepts, methods, tools and techniques of Strategic Foresight, which is a framework for working with stakeholders and communities to identify a set of plausible futures that can guide policy-making and decisions. This course will introduce you to concepts such as systems mapping, plausible futures, scenario development, weak signals, futures wheel, trends, and change drivers. We will also consider principles of effective and ethical community engagement in both bicultural and multicultural contexts. Strategic Foresight is used by a range of government, quasi-government and non-government actors such as the OECD, UN, New Zealand Defence Force, Shell, CSIRO, and various national governments. Upon completion of this course, students will be prepared to make a difference through the application of foresight tools and methods.