Wiser Futures: Using Futures Tools to Better Understand and Create the Future

The Institute for Alternative Futures offers its popular workshop introducing its world-class approaches to using futures techniques in communities, organizations, governments, and corporations. You will experience using specific futures tools such as forecasts, scenarios, and visions; get practical advice on using futures tools to enhance learning and effective choice within organizations and communities; and explore how aspirational futures can transform organizations. This is a highly interactive workshop where participants experience the tools we describe. Every participant receives a sourcebook of tools and examples of work products that illustrate successful futures work. This is a highly rated workshop. Past participants have been able to adapt these tools for use in their own foresight and strategic planning work.

Who should attend: This course is valuable for individuals from organizations and corporations responsible for foresight and strategic planning, for those newly assigned to foresight work, or who are considering going into futures consulting. Previous workshop attendees from associations, government agencies, small businesses, large corporations, and independent consultants have found it very useful.

What you will learn: Experienced practitioners will provide their wisdom and hands-on experience in identifying trends, developing forecasts, creating stimulating scenarios, and discovering powerful visions for an organization. The course provides an introductory overview to the steps the Institute for Alternative Futures considers the core of visionary strategic planning and creating better futures.

How this new knowledge can be applied: Participants can use the skills learned to monitor trends, design and use scenarios, and apply futures techniques to develop a better vision and strategies for a preferred future for their organizations. Practicing futurists will appreciate this opportunity to benchmark their tools and approaches against a leading futurist organization.

Clement Bezold, chairman of the board and founder of the Institute for Alternative Futures (IAF) and its for-profit subsidiary, Alternative Futures Associates (AFA). Dr. Bezold established IAF in 1977 to encourage "Anticipatory Democracy." In 1982, he started AFA to assist corporations in their strategic planning. Trained as a political scientist, he has been a major developer of foresight techniques, applying futures research and strategic planning methods in both the public and private sectors. As a consultant, Dr. Bezold has worked with a large variety of successful and growing corporations as well as governments and nonprofit organizations. He has designed numerous workshops and projects to study future environments in a wide range of fields, including health care, law and the courts, the environment, genomics, and science and technology

Friday, July 8, 2011
9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
$199 members/$249 nonmembers