Background

We had the pleasure of working with the University Centre of the Westfjords back in March 2016 when we ran a one day seminar exploring how future change may affect Arctic marine innovation ideas and developments. This was a fantastic experience – although getting there required driving overnight in advance of an approaching white-out – and so we were delighted to be asked to develop this new futures and strategic foresight module for Masters Coastal and Marine Management students and return to Ísafjörður to deliver it in early October 2018.

We were also grateful for the opportunity to meet-up with the course students the following week as they also attended the Arctic Circle Assembly 2018 in Reykjavik. This allowed us to continue the conversations started during the course and highlight how the content and dynamics of the conference related to the futures approaches they had recently learned.

Course Description:

This course frames the Arctic as a region subject to a wide range of critical areas of change with the active potential to lead to the emergence of different, divergent or disruptive future states from those experienced today. These themes will be explored through the theory and methodologies of futures and strategic foresight with a view to equipping students with the ability to develop critical thinking about emergent change and the longer term, and its range of commercial, political and social implications within the Arctic. The course will draw on broad-based existing academic outputs, experience gained from client-led practice and through the teaching of practical ‘tools-based’ exercises.

Duration:

5 days

Learning outcomes:

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Define and recognise the key drivers of change, and their associated trends, and understand what impacts (both positive and negative) they may have within the Arctic & sub-Arctic regions
• Understand the implications these drivers have for strategy, policy and innovation development and risk management
• Evaluate what futures and strategic foresight approaches are, their value and how and when they can practically be used
• Be able to apply a range of recognised strategic foresight tools within their ongoing academic research and / or within their professional careers or areas of practice

Images from journey