Scenarios are simply stories, deliberately crafted to describe plausible alternative futures. They inform the present not by telling us what the future /will/ be, but rather by helping us to understand the likely impact of our actions given a range of possible futures. Scenario development allows us to envision the unexpected and to imagine the surprises that lay just over the horizon. The use of scenarios also forces us to think systemically and to see the crucial links between human and natural systems.

This workshop will draw upon your knowledge and experience, your insights, and your wisdom to develop the rough outlines of multiple possible stories of the metro region’s environmental future. And insights from your work here, together with that of other sessions around the state, will contribute to the development of statewide environmental scenarios. And those scenarios, in turn, will feed into the design of a Statewide Conservation Plan for the Legislative and Citizens Commission on Minnesota Resources.

See  Minnesota 2050: Pathways to a Sustainable Future Project

For more informaion on the Ecosystem Science and Sustainablity Initiative, see