Wendy is off to the States for the 2010 World Futures Conference in Boston where she will be presenting on our Project 2058 progress and getting in touch with some of the foremost futures thinkers in the world. Today she got a look at the 2010 State of the Future Report.
We will be updating this Blog with Wendy’s activities and interesting new information we come across, but for now here are a few fascinating observations from conversations Wendy has had so far:
| – Michigan has almost 20% unemployed – – A California tech guy who was a farmer in Korea and now a US citizen working on Micro chips in the Silicon Valley – he talked about how being in the US is about looking after yourself – as no one else will do that for you here. Saying that he would not live anywhere else. – He also talked about the need for an English speaking grouping of countries – funny, I had actually heard that last year and am not sure what the reason for this idea is. – Spanish students tend to not say they live in the US when they travel to Europe, instead they say they live in Mexico. – In Los Angles you need at least two years of a language. I have spoken with a teacher of Spanish and she was explaining that in less than 50 years the US will have a majority of Spanish speaking citizens – so watch this space. |
Wendy has also had the opportunity to have dinner with Dr Peter Bishop. Dr Bishop is an Associate Professor of Strategic Foresight and Coordinator of the graduate program in Futures Studies at the University of Houston, and specialises in techniques for long term forecasting and planning.