4 Future Scenarios for New Zealand

What issues may New Zealand face over the next 50 years? What capacity will we have to respond to external pressures such as increased trade barriers, climate change, Peak Oil, flu pandemics and the like? Researchers at Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua and an advisory team from Wellington have developed four possible scenarios that help the reader provide plausible, rather than predicted or preferred, answers to these questions. The scenarios - named Independent Aotearoa, Fruits for a Few, New Frontiers and Living on No.8 Wire - give a rich sense of how life could differ in the future: at work, at home, in politics and in business. With whom will we trade? How will we educate people? What may government priorities be? And what will all of this mean in terms of sustainable development? This second edition, produced by Airplane studios, is illustrated by pictures of a younger age group, enjoying aspects of life today that are quintessentially New Zealand-Aotearoa. These scenarios will be of use to local government and central ministries, larger businesses, schools and community organisations, to support strategic and outcome planning. They will stimulate thinking about change-drivers, opportunities and the need for resilience in the face of a risk-filled world. Work in Progress Edition 2 is intended to stimulate and continue debate on what kind of future New Zealand-Aotearoa would like to choose, and the values underlying those choices. The seeds of change towards each of the four scenarios exist within current society - now public and business policy will influence which, if any, grows and takes shape as a new reality. You can join the debate today.