Ahead for 2009 on 774 ABC’s conversation hour

What’s emerging for 2009? What might shape the near term future, what can we do about it and what are some of the indicators suggesting change or otherwise? Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber joined Raphael Epstein and co-host Denise Scott, as part of the panel to answer the questions on the 774 ABC’s conversation hour today…

Along with Stella Minahan from Deakin University and Dr Stephen Downes from RMIT, Raphael wanted to pursue a discussion of trends, the future and how we might all cope in an economic downturn. Marcus Barber made the point that there was no such thing as a future trend, that trends are merely examples of habits of behaviour and that all habits are subject to change. The panel considered technology, shopping behaviour, social past times and interests and even the use of plywood panels to wall up those open space designs which Denise claimed were a trend waiting to die as young kids turned into teenagers!

When the show gets posted to the ABC site the link to the full conversation hour will be added to the site here

Blackwood 8 fundraiser assists the Ludwig Institute for Cancer research

Nov 3, 2008

The second annual fund raiser was held in late October and attended by almost 300 people. Marcus Barber offers a brief update: The Blackwood 8 commitee put together a great fund raiser on behalf of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne. With a delightful crowd warm up by Greg Champion of the ‘Coodabeen…

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Regional Produce Summit slides now available

Oct 21, 2008

The slides used as part of Marcus Barber’s key note address to the Regional Produce Summit are now available via the link below   Held at the Wangaratta Gateway Motel (and the first conference event staged in its very impressively redsigned function room) the conference brought together a range of speakers to discuss culinary tourism,…

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Victorian State Culinary Tourism Conference in Wangaratta

Oct 2, 2008

Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will be kicking off proceedings at the 2008 Regional Produce Summit in Wangaratta on the 20th of October where he’ll detail some of the emerging issues likely to impact upon the tourism and food sector in the foreseeable future and suggest ways that businesses in the sector might be able to…

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Eco Industrial Parks & Community Development

Oct 2, 2008

Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will both key note and act as Master of Ceremonies at the Lockhart Industrial symposium on the 9th of October, in Lockhart NSW. Marcus will discuss the clear business advantages that Eco Industrial parks provide to businesses, the way that symbiotic supply chains work to improve business resilience and the way…

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Marcus Barber discussing the Future on 774 ABC Melbourne

Sep 20, 2008

Marcus Barber joined host Tim Cox and co-host, author and writer Andrew Peglar on the Conversation hour to muse about the types of futures one might expect to see in coming years.   After Tim asked for clarification between a General, Theoretical and Strategic Futurist, Andrew kicked off with a question over the singularity.  The…

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Your Future Requires Planning – and so does ours!

Sep 4, 2008

Members of the Futures Foundation and the AFFA will be congregating in Pearl Beach in the coming weeks to consider the state of play in the Australian Futures community. Given the emerging challenges in Australia and around the world, the futures community requires just as much serious contemplation and forethought as does any one  …

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Robots of the Future

Jul 22, 2008

One of our many Nordic watchers, Are Thorsteinsson, has posted the Future Matters segment looking at the future of robotics, along with marking up full language captions in Danish. Although a couple of years old now, the early signs listed in this segment are only now coming into more mainstream focus Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber…

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Asking the unaskable question – Do we have a right not to die?

Jun 25, 2008

Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber has contributed a chapter to Volume Five of the ‘Death and Anti-Death’ Anthology which has just been published by Ria University. With contributors including Aubrey de Grey and Kevin Kelly and edited by Dr. Charles Tandy, Volume Five in the series is dedicated to the memory of Loren Eiseley, the renowned…

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Biofuels and Global Starvation

Jun 12, 2008

One of the challenges for one aspect of the world is fuel and the price of fuel used for private transportation. I use the word ‘aspect’ quite deliberately because the ‘aspect of the world’ that seems to be making the most noise about rising fuel prices is by and large the ‘westernised’ world – that’s…

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Marcus Barber to Open Supply Chain and Logistics Conference

May 14, 2008

With the theme ‘Moving Forward, Supply Chains of the Future’, Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will open the Australian Supply Chain and Logistics Conference in Brisbane in July on behalf of the Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia. Details for the conference can be found below.   The focus on the future of supply chains…

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