Future Search
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homeFuture search is a planning meeting that helps people transform their capability into action very quickly. The meeting is task-focused. It brings together 60 to 80 people in one room or hundreds in adjacent rooms. The design of the meeting is highly structured and is based on principles and experiences that have been tested in many cultures in past years. The meeting takes 16 hours, spread over three days. Spending two nights there is an essential part of the planning process. Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff call this process "riding the rollercoaster". Mutual learning among stakeholders is a catalyst for voluntary action and follow-up. People devise new forms of cooperation that continue for months or years. Future searches have been carried out in every part of the world and sector of society. Even if a situation seems hopeless a future search can unleash new hope and energy for improvement.
At
first participants focus on the past, by making a timeline of key events in the
world, their own lives, and the history of the future search topic. Then they
picture everything that plays a role in the present, looking for trends and
patterns, by using mind mapping. See
Tools and the article
Mindmapping in 8 easy steps. Next they describe ideal future
scenarios and share them with the whole group. After looking for common ground,
action plans are made for a feasible route to a desirable future.
Alternatively, the work in future search can be done in a small self-organising mixed table group and more uniform stakeholder groups, and in the large group. In future search finding, common ground will be central, thus serving as a basis for creating a desired future. The website of the Future Search Network offers extensive information on background, principles, conditions for success and experiences in specific sectors. See also Tips. A summary of principles and usage:
