Jan Petter Hammerø (recently retired mayor in Molde – he was mayor when this picture was taken), Per Kristian Øyen (with beard – mayor of Kristiansund) and Vetle Wang Soleim (youth from Atlanten High School).
This dialogue project has used foresight as a method to lift our view higher and above conflicts. Foresight is used to create and think through scenarios of future challenges. According to the project leader, Roald Fiksdal, thinking from a 20 year future perspective has been fruitful:
“The cooperative spirit in the regions has improved,” Fiksdal explains. “We see signs of a ‘we-feeling’ emerging, and a new will to work across the region. This is something that many felt was not possible to achieve prior to this process. I am very pleased to conclude that the foresight process has created a framework for real dialogue.”
The Process
The goal of this project is to create a foundation for a larger and stronger living and working region in the northern part of Møre og Romsdal county. The working team has included 104 carefully selected and motivated people from the upper levels of politics, business, culture, public administration and media in the region.
During the workshops participants discuss the future’s foundation for business and industry, their region’s youth, the need for a modern communication system, development of the region’s competencies, cooperation in the country, and how the unique resources of the region can best be exploited.
“After good gatherings, discussions and the creation of four different scenarios, we concluded with defining concrete, cooperative projects,” Fiksdal says proudly.
Fiksdal explains that the first gathering was an “idea and thought exchange” where the goal was to speak openly about the forces that influence the region. The next gathering which took place a few months later focused on developing scenarios. In this workshop, a foundation was laid for four exciting future scenarios which showed how reality for the region could be going forward to 2030.
“Strategy development was the theme for the third gathering, and the discussion revolved around choices and strategic alternatives. These scenarios were used to widen our collective perspective on what was possible and useful for the region to do together. The last gathering was a dialogue conference. Here we discussed the preconditions for continuing a good dialogue and also explored important initiative areas,” explained the project leader.
Trust – together with concrete arenas for cooperation
Fiksdal’s project group consisted of 8 to 10 participants, a combination of politicians, public administrators, and business representatives. One of the participants was the Managing Director of the Molde Business Forum, Britt Flo. Ms. Flo does not hide the fact that the process was demanding and comprehensive.
“The process has been exciting, but demanding because it has forced us out of our everyday lives and made us look ahead,” she explains.
Under the workshop both national and international trends were mapped out, and the participants concluded that there were two especially important trends that were important for the region’s development.
“Understanding our young people’s educational choices and the demands for knowledge and competency-related work are clear trends that we, as a region, must relate to if we are to retain our population. The other trend that we have become more aware of is the movement of people between urban areas – that people want to live in city centers means that we have to have more focus on strengthening our urban areas and creating attractive city centers,” says Flo.
From Conflict to Cooperation?
At the end of the process possible areas for cooperation were mapped. There was talk about integration, transportation, green industry, cooperative industry/cluster development, strengthening of education and college offerings, and the needs of young people.
“There are no concrete cooperative projects to be started this year, and as far as I know none are in planning. However, I am optimistic. We are talking together and have defined several areas where we can improve if we work together. Concrete projects will emerge after a while, “concludes the Managing Director for the Molde Business Forum.
Goals for the future
Several interesting strategic ideas are now ready to be seeded in Nordmøre og Romsdal. The participants agree that without this process they would never have had so many good ideas to pursue.
“Trust is the glue of cooperation, and this trust does not emerge by itself. It has to be nursed and supported. The process has created an arena where trust can grow. Listening to each other’s views on what they believe are important future challenges in a confidential atmosphere contributes to building trust. We believe that trust also is the key to a successful follow-up of a process such as this,” says Fiksdal, who in conclusion wishes to thank all of the participants for a good collaborative effort so far. Especially important has been the team-work with Asmund Kristoffersen (leader of the project team, and previous long-sitting Parliamentary representative) and Jan Petter Hammerø (leader of the steering committee, and newly-retired mayor of Molde). The trust these two have in the entire region has been very significant for the support and results that have been achieved in the project.
FACTS:
The process was developed and arranged by consultants from The Performance Group (Kristin Karlsrud Haugse and Johannes Nævdal) and Dietz Foresight (Jan Dietz). Møre og Romsdal Utvikling AS (MRU) is the project owner. Inspiration for this process came from “best practice” and experience from successful regional future processes in Norway and the EU.
Regional foresight is action-oriented, and points to a number of improvements in cooperative relationships. For Nordmøre og Romsdal the results will provide a basis for further work on targeted initiative areas in 2012 and 2013. The dialogue on future challenges will also continue.
Have a look at the latest press article on the project from Kommunal Rapport (pdf) , and read more about this project on: www.mru-as.no
Read more about how TPG works with foresight
