Future Search Conference

On February 19, 2009, our B.Sc. ENSC cohort, particularly our Sustainability and Community Relations class, headed by Dr. Chris Ling, actively participated in a mock future search conference. The topic: The management of old growth forests in the interior of Vancouver Island, BC. The players: the Vancouver Island Forestry Unions (my group), Mayors of the Mill and Forestry Towns, the Forestry Industry, Environmental Organizations, First Nations, and Community Forests and Woodlot owners. From this extensive list of different groups, one might see some of the challenges each group would face when discussing how the old growth forests should be managed. And, as you might have guessed, the Forestry Industry wanted to have access to old growth forest for logging, and many of the other groups opposed, especially the Environmental Organizations who's stance was basically: "No logging of the old growth forests on Vancouver Island. None." D

espite all the various interests of the different interest groups, including safety and job security for the Unions, sustainable logging and protection/respect of the land from the First Nations groups, and local ownership of the Community Forests and Woodlot owners, the future search conference proved quite successful on establishing a common ground that sensitively addressed the concerns each group had, and each group left the conference feeling that they were successful with the decisions. There were some issues that could not be decided on at the conference and those were held for discussion at a later date - these were issues that were a little heavier loaded and needed to be discussed in great detail to establish a decision all groups could feel good about. None the less, the mock future search conference our ENSC 409 class participated in turned out to be a great learning experience, and quite a success!

Future search conferences have proven time and time again to deliver positive results that move all groups forward - a step in the right direction. A future search conference can be on a variety of topics, including busniess, communities, congregations, general education, higher education, environment, government, health care, and human services. A future search conference that was held in Dubbo, New South Wales, in 1995, made huge positive leaps foward for Aborignal groups within the communities at hand. At the future search conference, Lynette Riley-Mundine, an Aboriginal representative and Aboriginal Development Manager, was very disappointed and frustrated that Aboriginal development was not high on the priority list when voting was acted upon. However, her commitment to the issues sparked another future search conference held only 6 months later.

This second future search conference saw goals that the Aboriginal group had set being reached, and was centred around educational development with the Western Institute of Technical and Further Education (TAFE). Aboriginal elders were present at the conference that welcomed non-Aboriginals to the conference with a friendly greeting. The conference had immediate outcomes, including:

(Aboriginal participants): A connection between the Aboriginal coordinators and the Institute Executive. The Aboriginals also learned the TAFE system, and developed a better understanding of what it could do.

(Non-Aboriginal participants): strong relationships and understandings of the Aboriginal peoples and their cultures, and a connection to the Aboriginal peoples.

(Institute): Developed a list of targets and recommendations for development and involvement of Aboriginal peoples. Many other aspects were developed, including cultural awareness, accessibility, self-sufficiency, decision-making, flexibility, and improvement in information flow.

18 months after the conference, further development has resulted in the relationship between the Aboriginal peoples and the Institute, including:

An Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Program and Trainer Manual (first ever at the institute). This was developed to shed some light on Aboriginal Culture to non-Aboriginal peoples.

An Aboriginal Education and Development Committee at the institute (Aboriginal involvement in decision making).

AN Aboriginal Studies education program... As well as 3 other positive outcomes for both the Aboriginal group and the Institute.

This is just one example of the positive impacts for various groups from a future search conference. As one of my classmates pointed out in a summary/discussion after our own mock future search conference in class, the conferences are valuable because you are made aware of other situations you may not have known about otherwise. Also, different groups tend to have more similar ideas and values than they might think if they weren’t involved in a conference together. I agree!

All in all, I think a future search conference is an effective tool for bringing different groups with various values and view points together and deciding on the best course of action to take for all groups involved.

For more information on the future search conference between the Aboriginal group and the TAFE Institute in South New Wales, please visit: http://www.futuresearch.net/method/applications/world/oceania/aboriginal_fs.cfm