“Future Preparedness” studies individual and group behaviours in challenging and unpredictable conditions. The case study extends futurist scenario planning with speculative design experiments, improvised role-playing games and meditative practices combined in 'prehearsals' – real life laboratories where future scenarios can be experienced as immersive situations.

Blog posts about future prehearsal experiments at FoAM

• Scenario and prehearsal design
• About pre-enactments
• Reflection on the first prehearsals

Reflections and instructions on scenario planning by Anna Maria Orru and David Relan:

• Scenario Symphony describing a range of scenario planning tools
• Temporal Model introducing concepts of “passive” and “active” futures in scenarios
• From Pan to Panarchy borrowing from eco-systems theory to add dynamic forces to scenarios

• Scenario planning references
• Scrapbook with notes including topics as disaster drills, survivalism and speculative fiction

So far for FoAM, the method described in The Art of the Long View by Peter Schwartz seems to be the most appropriate and flexible for our needs. We begin with a question or a challenge, map internal and external influences, rank them based on importance and uncertainty, and from there design four probable scenarios. We then turn the scenarios into narratives and mood-boards and from there create a set of instructions for an improvised prehearsal: a cross-breed between a live action role playing game, an attitude-meditation and a real-life lab.

FoAM's scenario planning exercise of which three first ones have been turned into prehearsals): How do we work together on interesting things?

• Weekend Superheroes
• The Flotilla
• A Bohemian Salon
• Incubator for Successful Artists

With Anna Maria Orru and David Relan we explored a range of tools in a Scenario Symphony:

• scenario workshop 201205: How do we engage and connect communities through food?
  • Reflection by Mischka Melo

With Patricia Portela and Christophe De Boeck we had a set scenario (new Babylon 2084) and only focused on a short prehearsal:

• Hortus Prehearsal: How did we get to New Babylon?

A possible future of Future Preparedness in Dutch