Futures Planning - The Staff College

Scenario planning is a strategic method used to explore and prepare for multiple potential future outcomes by creating and analysing detailed, plausible scenarios to inform decision-making. It works by identifying key uncertainties and driving forces, then developing and analysing different future scenarios for you to assess their impact and guide strategic decisions.

At The Staff College, we are experts in scenario planning, a methodology that can empower you and your teams to anticipate challenges, adapt to change, and make strategic decisions that ensure the best outcomes for children and families.

Our tailored scenario planning workshops are designed to foster resilience, innovation, and foresight, equipping your organisation to navigate an ever-evolving landscape with confidence.

We offer a range of tools and formats to suit your needs, and we have our own Scenario Planning Faculty that will be there to provide support in design, analysis, facilitation, and implementation.

EXAMPLE

Children’s Futures Matter is a project exploring what kind of world will our children inhabit in 2035

Divided: In this scenario, England is a country of division and inequality. It is a world where you have to have resources – money and a stable home environment to do well.

Left Behind: In this scenario, England is a country where children and young people feel betrayed and confused in a country that does not work for them.

Activism: In this scenario, England is a country that listens to, hears and loves its children.

Networked: In this scenario, England is a country where technology is key to lifting young people's aspirations of what is possible.

Of course, it is impossible to predict the realities of 2035 because there are any number of social, political and economic factors that will impact on our trajectory across the coming fifteen years.

However, England is currently preoccupied with a debate with itself about its identity and its future direction. Brexit and the politics of identity are shaping the debate, and by extension, the lives of our children and young people for many, many years to come.

We are living in a complex world, but it is a world where children’s futures matter.

We cannot predict the future, but we can plan for scenarios that will help us to consider what we ideally want, and what we can do together to create the best outcomes for children and families.

So, we have developed Children’s Futures Matter, an innovative and dynamic scenario planning approach that can help you.