10 years on from the Australia 2020 Futurists Summit

The question is, ‘how does the thinking inside this document stack up?’ Turns out, pretty good. What we spotted and what problems we said we’d have to watch out for, are just about spot on

 

When it was discovered that the then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was going to hold the Australia 2020 Summit, plenty of futurists got excited. Until we discovered NOT ONE FUTURIST was invited to be part of the group. So I convened the Australia 2020 Futurists Summit in the month PRIOR to the national summit.

So how did our thinking work out? See for yourself but the short note is that when I wrote in the introduction: ‘…Overtime the challenge will be
in ensuring that a ‘clean’ input process is maintained such that vested interests find it difficult to wrest broad public perspectives away from the contribution process…’ it turns out that I was smack on target of what the problem would be in Australia

Check it out for yourself The Australia 2020 Futurists Summit 

The Future of Australia’s Dairy Industry

Mar 9, 2010

Following on from the highly rated ‘Skimming the Cream’ forum in Brisbane on the 9th of February, members of the Young Dairy Network and SubTropical Dairy groups reconvened to consider the impacts of Climate Change on the dairy sector in Australia using the high-impact ‘Accelerated Scenarios process’. The ‘2030 Dairy Scenarios’ brought together the members…

Read More >

Thinking outside the cloud – a new tourism angle for Queensland

Feb 17, 2010

Queensland is one state that leverages its weather to the hilt – and the fact is the ‘Sunshine State’ earns its reputation. The odd thing is that in the past week I’ve spent in the Gold Coast experiencing the warm, humid and often wet weather it has occured to me that Queensland might be missing…

Read More >

Terrorism the Games wild card

Jan 31, 2010

In a recent article in The Age, Clive Williams of Macquarie University’s Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism suggested that athletes booked in to attend the Commonwealth games in India need to consider a terrorist attack as a potential wildcard. Whilst an interesting perspective, I’d like to suggest that a potential terrorist attack at…

Read More >

For Valentines Day, its Tigers all ’round

Jan 10, 2010

If my information is correct, the 14th of February is the start of the New Year and instead of the usual flowers and chocolates, you might be wise to invest in another gift for your heart’s desire Because Feb 14 is the start of the Chinese New Year – the year of the Tiger. So…

Read More >

What can we expect in the next decade?

Dec 28, 2009

Had any thoughts yet? I have – plenty and judging from the number of media inquiries it appears lots of other people are also curious to know what might lie ahead in the next year or next decade. I’m putting my thinking hat on so that we can consider what 2010-2019 might hold, the second…

Read More >

Copenhagen Consensus is likely – just not the type we want.

Dec 7, 2009

I’m tipping that Consensus will be reached at Copenhagen this week. Alas it will be a consensus for more talking, thinking and commitments to agree to a proposal to set a time for a discussion around more concrete targets. In otherwords, a commitment to not commit. The politicians waver whilst our planet is being poisoned.…

Read More >

Counter Mantra to Christmas Credit

Nov 30, 2009

The cycle of consumption rears its head as it has done for quite some time. Consumption is neither good, nor bad, it ‘just is’ and right now the majority of media exposed potential consumers are being lured, enticed and occasionally conned into parting with their hard earned money to satisfy needs and whims. Some consumers…

Read More >

What kids can teach us about Goal Directed futures

Nov 16, 2009

Our son has just celebrated his fifth birthday and although we don’t make a huge fuss about milestones (the kids get a party every second year), there’s no doubt that he is learning about desired future outcomes and goals. I doubt he is different from most kids in his ability to spot something and declare…

Read More >

How Will You Prove You Are Who You Say You Are?

Oct 21, 2009

Here’s a little something I’d like you to think about. Are you really who you say you are? And, how do I know that I can trust you? Identity Theft is one of the most debilitating crimes a person can suffer for it strips away the very core of your own belief system and that…

Read More >

Can GM food rescue the planet’s appetite for Food?a

Oct 15, 2009

‘World – we have a problem’ (apologies to astronaut James Lovell). We are killing ourselves with food and it’s happening at both ends of the continuum – millions starve each day whilst a gluttony caused obesity epidemic is killing others off in different ways. We have a growing global population requiring sustenance, whilst Climate Change…

Read More >