Chiara Ronchini: Future-Proofing Heritage: Futures Thinking Approaches to Aid Recovery...

Chiara Ronchini: Future-Proofing Heritage: Futures Thinking Approaches to Aid Recovery and Renewal During the COVID-19 Crisis

Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, our operating environment is ever-changing, and the future is difficult to predict. There are many variables – such as the speed of containment of the pandemic, the impact on the economy and speed of recovery – which can shape possible future scenarios. How can organisations respond to a crisis and plan for recovery when dealing with
multiple future uncertainties? Historic Environment Scotland (HES), like many other heritage agencies around the world, has been facing the challenge to create resilience and sustainability in its operations during this crisis, whilst wading through the limitations of the sector – lack of funding, insular and short-sighted perspectives, and barriers to broader engagement and collaboration. This paper aims to illustrate the approach that HES has been taking to plan for recovery and renewal by applying Futures Thinking techniques. I will explore how different Futures Thinking techniques have been used to build flexibility in HES’s work when facing an uncertain future. Starting from the premise that ‘no scenario is more likely, all scenarios are equally possible’, this paper will show how scenario planning can be effectively used to map critical uncertainties and identify business priorities across different possible scenarios. I will also examine how the methodology used in this process will help develop a Futures Thinking
toolkit in support of all our operations. This is only the start of a long process for HES. This paper aims to illustrate the journey taken so far to embed Futures Thinking techniques in the organisation, how we engaged with these and used them to begin this process.

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