Co-design pathways: future scenarios for Cities of Learning

Content

When so much is uncertain, it’s even harder than usual to imagine future possibilities, and what counts as “future” might be next month instead of the next decade. KnowledgeWorks Foundation suggests applying scenarios as a way of starting. 
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They help us make and manage assumptions and explore multiple narratives about change so that we do not get focused on a singular future or pretend we can predict what will happen. Scenarios can be organised around critical uncertainties or alternative assumptions. For example, we may be uncertain 
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Creating scenarios presents the opportunity to get creative and challenge yourself to think of what could happen, not just what you think is most likely to happen.
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Now, choose an area to focus your futures scenario, e.g. learning, civic engagement or careers in your city or region.
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Then, follow these steps to create your scenario:
List uncertainties young people may be facing in their future learning, civic and career pathways. 
Prioritise those that seem most important or most impactful for young people.
Pick two of those top-priority uncertainties to form the axes of a scenario matrix in the scenario worksheet.
Label the end points (for example, low/high duration and low/high spread)
Identify features of each resulting scenario, which can be simple as listing bullet points or can take the form of a more developed story.
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If you have a team, together explore your future scenarios and collect insights on ways learning, civic engagement or careers may unfold.
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Here are some examples of applying future scenarios.
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More: Back to the Future of Education. Four OECD Scenarios for Schooling﻿
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More: Workforce of the future. The competing forces shaping 2030﻿
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The Network of Cities of Learning offers this learning activity within the capacity-building project ‘Youth co-design learning, civic and career pathways’. We are grateful to the EU’s Erasmus+ Programme for co-funding support for this project.
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Credits:
﻿KnowledgeWorks Foundation﻿
Cover image: photo by Ian Parker on Unsplash 

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Co-design pathways: future scenarios for Cities of Learning Get this badge

This badge is issued for exploring and creating future scenarios for learning, civic engagment and career in Cities and Regions of Learning.
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Earners of this badge followed KnowledgeWorks Foundation's suggested method to create future scenarios to think of what could happen. People choose an area to focus your futures scenario, e.g. learning, civic engagement or careers in their city or region.
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When creating future scenarios badge earners demonstrated their abilities to:
List uncertainties people may be facing in their future learning, civic and career pathways. 
Prioritise those that seem most important or most impactful for people in their city or region.
Pick two of those top-priority uncertainties to form the axes of a scenario matrix in the scenario worksheet.
Label the end points (for example, low/high duration and low/high spread)
Identify features of each resulting scenario, which can be simple as listing bullet points or can take the form of a more developed story.
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The Network of Cities of Learning promotes, offers and endorses this badge.

Tasks

Task no.1

Evidence verified by: one activity organiser

Follow steps to explore and create future scenarios for learning, civic engagement and careers in your city or region. Upload your future scenarios. Share your thoughts about the following questions:
What was the most straightforward/challenging part of this task? What did you discover about the future?
Which of the scenarios you would prefer focusing on?

Skills

ESCO

#planning

ESCO

#anticipate future levels of service

ESCO

#plan future needs of resources

Civic engagement

Added to playlist (1)

Time to complete: 25 minutes

Organisers

Network of Cities and Regions of Learning

Used in playlists

Co-design learning, civic and career pathways in Cities of Learning

Network of Cities and Regions of Learning

Created on Global platform for Cities of Learning

Badgecraft hosts this platform and develops it together with leading educational organisations. The European Union's programme Erasmus+ granted co-funding for building the first version of this platform. Contact support@badgecraft.eu.