Abstract
The need for strategic foresight in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world poses a formidable challenge to environmental planners and policy makers. Th is paper introduces futures research as an under used but fruitful set of approaches to addressing this challenge. Futures research is a transdisciplinary social science that uses a wide range of methods to explore possible, plausible, and preferable futures with the goal of anticipating and preparing for those futures. Th e historical context for environmental futures is briefly reviewed, an overview of futures research as a distinct field of study is presented, and several of the main methods of futures studies are described.
Parent Publication
Keywords
strategic foresight,
scenarios,
trends,
forecasting,
change,
environmental scanning
Citation
Bengston, David N. 2012. Futures research: A neglected dimension in environmental policy and planning. In: Bengston, David N., comp. 2012. Environmental futures research: experiences, approaches, and opportunities. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-107. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 4-12.
