View Research Topics | View Complete Article List | Visit the Library

Meadowlark Scenarios Show Different Futures for the Region

2007-11-04

Fargo, ND – May 14, 2007 – Have you ever wondered what your community might look like in the future? Ever wondered what your kids or grandkids might be doing 40 years from now? A group based in Fargo, North Dakota has taken on the challenge of envisioning our region’s future two generations out. Northern Great Plains Inc. and a group of 25 rural leaders have convened the Meadowlark Project Leadership Laboratory to look at the future of our region and find innovative ways to make sure it is a positive one for everyone living here. One way they are doing that is to get the entire region talking about its future using scenarios. The Leadership group has written four scenarios that outline what’s could be store for us in 2050, and how the decisions we make today will inevitably impact our future.

Jerry Nagel, President of Northern Great Plains (NGP) says that “Scenarios are plausible what-if stories that describe alternative paths toward the future. Scenarios are more like hypotheses of different futures designed to highlight the risks and opportunities involved in strategic decision-making.” Scenarios are used for business and military planning and more recently to generate civic dialogue in communities about issues important to the future of society. What makes them so useful in talking about the future according to Nagel is that “By shifting the discussion away from the past to possible futures, scenarios create the opportunity for businesses, organizations or communities to focus their energy on creating the kind of future they really want by seeking new, creative and positive solutions to old and challenging problems.”

NGP plans to convene 60 community dialogues around the region during the next six months. In addition they are mailing thousands copies of the scenarios to people in the region including high school teachers, business and community leaders, university professors and more. Their goal is an ambitious one – to get 10,000 people in the region talking about the future. Melissa Sobolik of NGP enthusiastically says “Can you imagine the impact that 10,000 people talking the future could have? Instead of trying to solve the problems of the past, we’ll be looking forward to creating the future we want.”

The Meadowlark Project group met in January to develop the four scenarios. They used current and historical trends, data and research, and systems thinking tools to essentially envision the unknown – the future. The results were 4 very possible, yet very different, ways our future could unfold. In 2050 your community and this region could be a thriving technologically savvy world, a hopeless dwindling society, a Buffalo Commons, or a place people are glad to call “home”.

To read the four scenarios, check out the project website www.meadowlarkproject.org. Here you’ll find greater detail on the project, the scenarios, and a list of Lab Team Members.

Northern Great Plains Inc. is a Fargo-based non-profit, whose mission is to make a positive difference in the future of rural communities and businesses by helping them successfully adapt to changing market and social forces. NGP works in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota. For more information on NGP, please visit www.ngplains.org.

Contact:
Melissa Sobolik
Northern Great Plains
msobolik@ngplains.org
p) 701-364-1349