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

The future of… You

Jun 12, 2011

Futurist Marcus Barber will be joining ABC’s Vicki Kerrigan in Darwin for the first of an ongoing discussion about the future this Wednesday. Each week on Wednesday afternoon’s, Vicki and Marcus will discuss the future of something, how we prepare for the future, what the future looks like for some industries and other related futures…

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Innovation in Manufacturing – there really IS a Future! But action needs to happen NOW!

May 25, 2011

The panel session at the National Manufacturing Week 2011 went well though with four of us on the panel, time was quite compressed. Some really good thoughts from Phillip Chindamo from AIG, Damon Cantwell from Deloitte and Erol Harvey from Minifab, delightfully chaired by Sandra George from SEBN at the City of Greater Dandenong. Rather…

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Building on Innovation for a vibrant and sustainable future – a focus for future manufacturing

May 23, 2011

On Thursday I’ll be part of the panel that wraps up the National Manufacturing Week 2011 in Melbourne at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre under the theme of Meeting the challenges of the next generation of manufacturing with a focus on Innovation and Sustainability. It should be an interesting chat as we consider what…

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What Australia Can learn from Finland’s Education System

May 1, 2011

There’s lots to like about borrowing ideas from other areas especially where those ideas can lead to a significant positive shift. In the link below, Zaid Ali Alsagoff an educational blogging specialist highlights why the Finnish Education system stands as a potential model to embrace. And whilst there are examples of this type of thinking…

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The role of Environmental Scanning in planning departments

Apr 13, 2011

Environmental Scanning (ES) is the process of paying attention to the world in which you operate in order to identify and gain a sense of potential signals of change in how your world is developing. When discussing the idea of ‘change’ we need to be clear – a potential signal of change is likely to…

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What Victoria can learn from Western Australia’s weather

Mar 19, 2011

When it comes to water management, there’s something of potential value that Victoria could learn from Western Australia’s weather given discussions about new dams If you have almost 60 days straight of above 30 degree days with pretty much no rain, how do you fill the dam? Well you don’t but you’ve put all of…

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What natural disasters tell us about societies

Mar 16, 2011

The natural disasters we’ve seen recently around the world have shown us much about the communities in which they’ve occurred. The images emerging from Japan, New Zealand and Australia as they’ve faced earthquakes, tsumanis, floods and fires stands on stark contrast to the mainstream media stories that suggests people of the world are not willing…

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What to do when phone lines go down

Mar 6, 2011

Hi everyone – a quick note to let you know that our phones lines have been down for a while now and we are working on getting them fixed. Our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you. In the meantime, try using either our 1800 number where you can leave a message only…

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Can GM Foods feed the world?

Feb 28, 2011

ABC journalist Adam Stephen interviews Marcus Barber on the subject of GM foods and whether they might be more widely embraced as part of the global food requirements   The interview (about 3& 1/2 mins) is available in MP3 format here and a link to the shorter web article is here.  Some key points –…

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A Vision for Australian Manufacturing

Feb 16, 2011

South East Business Networks, the City of Greater Dandenong’s longest running business development program, is an exceptional avenue for learning about issues to do with Manufacturing. This week they provided one ‘out of the box’ with an excellent presentation by Professor Goran Roos, a worldclass expert on Manufacturing and currently South Australia’s Thinker in Residence.…

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