Strategic Foresight
Kent County 2050 is using strategic foresight to build a vision for its future.
What is strategic foresight?
Strategic foresight is a four-phase process. Kent County 2050 is focusing on the first three phases:
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Sensing the STEEP/R (Society, Technology, Economy, Environment, Politics/Regulation) trends that will impact our residents and communities through 2050. Kent County’s STEEP/R trends are here.
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Imagining different kinds of futures: a challenging future, an expectable future, and two different visionary futures:
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Defining what we - a cross section of community leaders, activists, and organizations - must get right to ensure the best possible future for residents through 2050
How is this process different than strategic planning?
Strategic planning and strategic foresight are different in several important ways:
- Strategic planning starts with today (usually a SWOT analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). Foresight starts with the future — what’s coming? The STEEP/R trend analysis helps us see the forces that will shape our future.
- Strategic planning focuses on near-term plans of three to five years. Kent County 2050 is looking ahead to 2050.
- Strategic planning focuses on one hoped-for future. Foresight considers several plausible futures ranging from challenging to surprisingly successful.
Want to learn more about strategic foresight?
Here are two resources from Kent County 2050's consultant, Rebecca Ryan, to get you started:
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Blog: “New to Foresight? Start here."
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Video: "What is strategic foresight?”
Meet the Experts
Rebecca Ryan, APF
Rebecca Ryan is a futurist, economist, consultant, and author of The Next Big Things: The Next 20 Years in Local Government (2015); ReGENERATION: A Manifesto for America’s Future Leaders (2013); and Live First, Work Second: Getting Inside the Head of the Next Generation (2007). Rebecca will facilitate most meetings and workshops and support the project’s management. Rebecca is the founder and owner of NEXT Generation Consulting (NGC) and has held residencies at the Alliance for Innovation, the Governing Institute, the Association of Government Risk Pools (AGRiP), among others. Over the years, Rebecca has consulted and keynoted for The Right Place and the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. She has a professional certificate in Strategic Foresight from the University of Houston and BA degrees with honors in Economics and International Relations from Drake University. Check out her blog or watch her Q&A on how NGC helps organizations prepare for the future using Strategic Foresight.
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David Brown
David serves as the project manager for Kent County 2050. led the Greater Omaha Chamber for two decades, was the driving force behind ACCE’s Horizon effort, and hired NGC for Greater Omaha 2040 - which has become a North Star impacting everything from Omaha’s riverfront development to a new downtown and streetcar plan. David has now flipped from being a client to a team member! As a Lead Consultant, he provides guidance, foresight, and insight to clients committed to more ambitious, equitable, and prosperous futures. Check out his blog or watch David's Q&A on how NGC helps organizations prepare for the future using Strategic Foresight.
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What's NEW with Kent County 2050?
The Kent County 2050 initiative is organized into four phases. Two of these phases are currently complete.
Phase 0: Preparing (Complete)
Phase 0 focused on laying the groundwork for success. Since the summer of 2022, our partners at NGC have delved into a comprehensive study of Kent County, meticulously analyzing regional data, tracking trends, keeping the pulse on news stories, and soliciting information from over 150 multi-sector leaders across the county to gain profound insights into the current and historical forces shaping our region. With the conclusion of the research phase in Phase Zero, we took a significant step forward by establishing the Kent County 2050 Steering Committee in September 2023. This committee, comprised of representatives from nonprofits, schools, local governments, and businesses throughout Kent County, was appointed by Kent County, in consultation with The Right Place, The Grand Rapids Chamber, The Frey Foundation, and PNC Bank.
Phase 1: Sensing (Nearly Complete)
The goal of Phase 1 is to demystify the future and bring 2050 into clearer view. Using the information gathered in Phase 0, NGC's team identified 28 trends poised to define Kent County's forthcoming decades. Through a collaborative exercise named "The Big Sort," over 100 local experts meticulously ranked these trends based on factors like certainty, impact, and readiness. Preliminary results of this exercise can be explored here, providing a glimpse into the shaping forces of our collective future.
What's NEXT with Kent County 2050?
Phase 2: Imagining
Phase 2 will begin in early 2024 and entail exploring four plausible futures for Kent County. The Steering Committee will select several trends to explore and local scenario writers develop four different stories (scenarios) exploring Kent County’s future through 2050.
Phase 3: Defining
In this pivotal phase, our focus sharpens on the transformative strategies and goals destined to shape Kent County's trajectory until 2050. This begins with pinpointing crossover levers—strategies designed to navigate challenging scenarios while optimizing ideal conditions for our community. The upcoming "Defining" phase also embraces public input to craft a vision and plan that truly reflects the diverse perspectives within our community. Stay tuned for more details about public input opportunities and how you can actively participate in shaping Kent County's future.
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10 Trends for the Next 10 Years
Rebecca Ryan came to the Grand Rapids Economic Club Luncheon on January 8 to present 10 trends for the next 10 years. Over 700 attendees learned about what's to come in the next decade in addition to hearing about the Kent County 2050 initiative for the first time.
Click here to view the trends.
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Kent County 2050 Publications and Reports
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