Marcus Barber

Utilising a wealth of process methods, Marcus’ world class facilitation & consulting skills enable Boards, Senior Management teams and diverse stakeholder groups to gather insights aimed at answering a core question: ‘What do you want to achieve, and by when?’ Marcus is a Strategic Futurist and Value Systems specialist assisting clients in strategy, risk & innovation and employee engagement.

Multi Disciplinary Experience & Client Port Folio:

Government Clients:

International

OIC COMSTECH (Pakistan+); Ministry of Manpower (Singapore); FBI Futures Working Group (USA); Defence New Zealand; Asia Productivity Organisation (Japan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Malaysia, Philippines), Development Academy of the Philippines

Federal Level

Regional Development (Victoria); DEST; Centre for Defence & Strategic Studies (Department of Defence); ABC Radio; Australian Sports Commission; Department of Agriculture, Forests & Fisheries; Australian Defence Simulation and Training Centre

State Level

VicUrban; Sport & Recreation Victoria; DIIRD; Department of Planning & Community Development; Victoria Police, Victorian Managed Insurance Agency, Queensland Rail; Department of Health & Human Services;

Local Level

Yarra Valley City Council; South East Business Networks (CGD); Moonee Valley City Council; Gold Coast Water; Gold Coast City Council; City of Wangaratta; City of Greater Dandenong; Albury City Council; Melton City Council; Local Government Professionals Association, Knox City Council. Frankston City Council

 

Other

Victorian Water Association; CSIRO; Community Sector Services (WA); CaFNEC; Central Highlands Water; Western Water; South East Networks (SEM) City Deals Partnership

Manufacturing & Production Clients:

Young Dairy Network; Turners & Growers, New Zealand (ENZA); Pacific Brands (Grosby, Everlast); Hilton Manufacturing; Conductix-Wampfler (Delachaux Group); Barleycorn Brewers; General Motors; GMH; Fosters Australia; Newcrest;

Professional Services Clients:

AIMIA; The CEO Institute; Selection Partners; PageUp People; KMPG; Frontier Media; Employee Assistance Professionals Association of Australia; Asia Business Forum; Audiology Australia; Parenteral Drug Association; Ernst & Young; CPA Australia, Assure Programs; Centre for Organisational Development; Australian Organisation of Occupational Hygienists; Centre for Australian Foresight; The Australian Strategic Planning Institute; Swedish International Water Institute; Mayo Clinic (Mayo-In-Oz); Grant Thornton Australia

Associations & Not for Profit Clients:

Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA); GPN South Gippsland; South East Manufacturing & Marketing Alliance (SEMMA); Queensland Supply Chain & Logistics Council; Queensland Dairy Farmer’s Organisation; Parenteral Drug Association (Australia); Homeground Services; Brisbane Institute; Australian Toy Industry; Beacon Foundation; Australian Computer Society; Australian Podiatry Council; Association of National Tourist Office Representatives in Australia (ANTOR); Audiology Australia; Australasian Institute of Occupational Hygienists; Australian General Practise Network (AGPN); RSCA; Association of Professional Futurists; Cairns & Far North Environment Centre (CAFNEC), Dandenong Chamber of Commerce

Education Sector Clients:

Learn Local Metro; Indiana University of Pennsylvania; Korowa Anglican Girls School; Australian Scholarships Group; Swinburne University; Adult Community & Further Education (Loddon Mallee); Deakin University; Teach the Future (USA); Association of School Administrators; Kambrya College; Association of School Business Administrators; Carwatha College; Dandenong Primary School; Bentleigh West Primary School; Sandringham East Primary School; Noble Park Secondary College; St Margaret’s and Berwick Grammar School, Caulfield Grammar, Brighton Secondary College, GO TAFE

Broad Portfolio Clients:

Telstra; Sportsmans Warehouse; Leightons Holdings; ESPN; ARRB Group Ltd; Insurance Australia Group; AP Touring; Panthers Entertainment Group; Kimberley Clark;

 

Reputation & Standing

He delivered the strategic futures block at the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies (Australian War College) in Canberra, the premiere management training program for the Department of Defence that brings military personnel from around the globe to a year long residential strategy training program for 15 years

An engaging and thought provoking speaker, his public forums include UNESCO’s ‘Committing Universities to Sustainability’ conference in Austria, ‘World Futures Conference’ in Vancouver and ‘World Water Week’ in Stockholm along with many others in Australia on behalf of Ernst & Young, Victorian Water Association, CaFNEC, VicUrban, City of Greater Dandenong, Young Dairy Farmers, RSCA and many more.

Marcus was co-presenter on the National Geographic Channel’s TV series ‘Future Matters’, author of ‘The Money Tree and How to Grow One – Creating Success in Your Business‘ and in 2012 finished ‘Getting Your Future Right. He is now finishing ‘Killing Trends: the Graceful Art of Innovation‘ and also ‘Recession Proof Marketing’ (being co authored with Tod O’Reilly); he is the founder of The Australian Strategic Planning Institute was an advisory board member of the Australian Bill of Rights Initiative and is part of the Lifeboat Foundation’s Futures advisory Board.

He was on the Board of the Association of Professional Futurists for almost five years and is one of the co founders of the Centre for Australian Foresight. Marcus has been published in a number of Journals around the world, is often interviewed on radio and for articles in newspapers and magazines discussing leadership, management and ‘the future of…’ and was a regular contributor to Australasia’s innovation magazine ‘Fast Thinking

Qualifications

Master of Science, Strategic Foresight; Swinburne University of Technology

Master Practitioner Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), International NLP Training Association

Multiple Certification in Human Values Systems; National Values Centre, USA

Graduate Certificate in Teaching & Learning; Napier University, Scotland / SUT

Certificate IV in Training & Assessment; Holmesglen

Applied Sustainability; Fanshawe College, Canada

Professional Memberships

Professional Life Member of the World Futures Society

Past Board Member of Association of Professional Futurists, Current Member

Previously on Board of Management, Dandenong Neighbourhood House

 

Need to Find a Futurist? Email us today

Key Note Speaking information, including copies of a number of presentations can be found in the Free Articles section

Futurist Marcus Barber discusses the Future of Sex (Part Two) on ABC Darwin with Vicki Kerrigan

Nov 10, 2011

The MP3 file below captures part two of our chat looking at the Future of Sex. Picking up on the theme of new technology that popped up towards the end of our first discussion in week one, here we move onto haptics and holographics and the extension of that technology from beyond the bedroom and…

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History as Future – TV Show Who’s Been Sleeping in My House?

Nov 8, 2011

Who’s Been Sleeping In My House? is a new Australian series presented by archaeologist Adam Ford that looks at the stories behind some of our old homes. Adam is the man behind the recent ‘Ned Kelly’ dig among other great archaeology finds here in Australia and the UK. As a futurist I’m always interested in…

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Professional Futurists running their Follow The Sun Futures Program

Oct 25, 2011

The Association of Professional Futures is holding its first Virtual Gathering, following the sun from Europe, across North America and finishing in the Australia pacific zone. It kicks off tomorrow and links to the program and registration (it’s only $45 for guests for a program featuring some of the worlds most prominent futurists)   You…

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Marcus Barber on ABC Darwin – the Future of Sex Part 2

Oct 24, 2011

I join Vicki Kerrigan on ABC Darwin radio where we continue our discussion about the future of sex. We consider three main areas in this session – smart phone applications; remote relationships and the combination of haptics and holographics as one the emerging means by which we’ll maintain physical contact.   You can download the…

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The Future of Sex Part One

Oct 17, 2011

In this chat with Vicki Kerrigan on radio ABC Darwin we discuss the future of sex. This is the first of potentially three conversations where we look at the increasing reach of technology way beyond current online match making sites, the social pressures driving the use of technology as well as the use of technology…

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Soft House Prices or Unrealistic Vendors?

Oct 16, 2011

There’s been a bit of discussion in recent months about a softening housing market around Australia but I wonder how much of it is more indicative of unrealistic expectations on behalf of sellers? In futures work we think in terms of Assumptions and Expectations and aim to test our understanding and so I offer this…

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We’ve Been hit by an email Virus and apologise to everyone impacted

Oct 12, 2011

Unfortunately it looks like my main email address has been hijacked and has been used to send out a series of spam emails. I’d like to apologise to anyone who has received some junk email purporting to come from ‘desiredfutures’ with a series of html links asking you to go and have a look. You…

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The Future of Plastic Bottles

Oct 10, 2011

Given the amount of plastic swimming in our oceans and rivers and the volume littering our land, the NT Government is aiming to introduce compulsory returns legislation on soft-drink bottles (as happens in South Australia), something that has apparently raised the ire of bottler, Coca Cola. Although they’ve recently backed away from their initial statement…

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Is Alcohol or Cannabis more Harmful?

Oct 7, 2011

Deciphering the hype from reality with regard to drug use can be a challenge for most of us. Professor David Nutt in the UK has given me permission to post a link to the paper he has co-authored with Ruth Weissenborn that looks at the reality of a comparison of harm caused by two common…

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The Future of Clothing Part Two

Oct 4, 2011

Vicki Kerrigan and I finished off our discussion about the Future of Clothing on ABC Darwin yesterday. We discussed invisibility style cloaks, singlets that monitor your heart rate and stress levels, runners that capture electricity to power your wearable electronics and a few philosophical questions regarding our ability to deal with stress.   The file…

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