On the morning of day three of the ForesightNZ workshop, participants headed to the Treasury to present their findings from the workshop to Treasury officials. Participants had worked late into the night on Thursday, refining their ideas about the set of ForesightNZ playing cards and game instructions. The group presented their conclusions to Treasury officials Gabriel Makhlouf, Secretary and Chief Executive and Cath Atkins, Deputy Secretary, Macroeconomics and Growth.
Participants present their ideas to officials from the Treasury.
Participants present their ideas to officials from the Treasury. From left to right: Luke Maguire, Cath Atkins, Gabriel Makhlouf, Katherine Meerman and Dora Livas.
The participants explained what they had learnt over the last two days and went on to share the set of playing cards that they believe will shape New Zealand’s future. The cards were split into event cards, trend cards and capital cards. Event cards were categorised into one of four animals depending on the events level of awareness/extent addressed and the probability of it occurring. These included:
- Elephant events – high awareness and high probability.
- Lion events – low awareness and high probability.
- Black swan events – low awareness and low probability.
- Mouse – high awareness and low probability.
A diagram used to show the impact of different types of events.
Trend cards are distinct to event cards as they are growing changes or movements in a general direction over time whereas events are specific instances with a chance of occurring. Capital cards refer to the standards of the Treasury’s Living Standards Framework: the environmental, social, human and economic capital of New Zealand. Capital cards are only required for one of the games.
Participants went on to explain the three different card games that could be played with one set: ‘Quarrel’, ‘I Reckon’ and ‘Cards For Humanity’. The three different games varied in their approach to foresight, however each group experienced commonalities while working together. Because each method used the same set of cards to play a very different game this could be seen as a metaphor for how difficult foresight projection and ‘untangling New Zealand’s long-term future’ really is. The participants stressed the importance of appreciating and incorporating diversity while devising the pack of cards and the card game. Diversity allowed the participants to overcome challenges, question their assumptions and expand their horizons.
Participants share the ForesightNZ cards with the Treasury officials.
After the participants’ presentations, Gabriel and Cath stress-tested the playing cards and card games with a Q & A session. The Treasury officials left participants with the messages to keep an open mind, to tell their stories, make their voices heard, never stop learning and take a small step every day. Participants then thanked Gabriel and Cath and presented them with a pack of ForesightNZ playing cards. Following their reflections on the workshop, the participants were awarded with their ForesightNZ certificates, presented by Gabriel Makhlouf.
Participants with Gabriel Makhlouf, Secretary and Chief Executive at the Treasury.
After lunch, the participants split into smaller groups and worked on developing their ideas from the workshop for the workshop booklet. Some groups stress-tested the instructions to the three games and the content of the cards, while others collaborated to brainstorm for the content of the booklet, including a section on climate change and on futures legislation. McGuinness Institute designers worked on producing a number of potential card designs for the participants playing cards.
After a busy three days, the plenary headed to the McGuinness Institute where the workshop was closed by Wendy McGuinness. Wendy thanked participants and workshop interns for their hard work over the last three days. Following the conclusion of the workshop, participants went back to their homes in different parts of New Zealand but they took with them new perspectives and ideas about how to look at New Zealand’s long-term future.