Your Scenario or Mine?
Several weeks ago, 300 Houstonians gathered at the Bell Tower event center for the unveiling of the 2040 Scenarios for the Houston region. This unveiling to the community was the result of over two years of work at the Center for Houston’s Future (CHF). With the help of the CHF team led by London-based strategist and scenario planner Dr. Barbara Heinzen, thirty volunteers from throughout the region studied, researched, debated, cajoled and in that dialog developed two alternative scenarios of what the Houston Region might be like in 2040, 30 years into the future.
The brochure handed out to the attendees after the unveiling states, “The Center for Houston’s Future has completed Scenarios 2040, the largest public-interest, business-led, regional scenario project in the country.”
The two scenarios, Playing to Win and Learning to Live, are now being rolled out around the community in small groups of industry leaders and the dialog has begun – a dialog that will inform those decision-makers and residents who, together, will create Houston’s future for the next 30 years. CHF has prepared the following video trailer showing a little of each of the two scenarios which are the result of this project:
Last week, a group of 80 clients, contractors, specialty subcontractors, professionals, bankers and association executives gathered at the Marek Brothers headquarters for a presentation and conversation about those scenarios and the roles that the construction industry needs to play in the future of Houston. Members of the Construction Citizen team attended the session and we got good coverage of the session. We were able to interview a number of the attendees for reactions to the scenarios, to the dialog they heard and what the scenarios might mean for our industry.
We will bring the coverage of that session to you over the next few weeks. Stay tuned.
The website of the Center for Houston’s Future notes:
“Facilitating the Scenarios 2040 process, and guiding the Scenario Building Team, was London-based strategist and scenario planner Dr. Barbara Heinzen. With more than 25 years experience, Dr. Heinzen has led government and business scenario planning projects in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, with such multi-national companies as Royal Dutch Shell, Singapore Airlines and Unilever.
“The Center is currently working with award-winning management consulting firm Yaffe Deutser, specialists in trends and futures, strategic planning, and organizational communication, as it embarks on the most pivotal stage of Scenarios 2040 – the production, marketing and public engagement phase.”
