At the start of December 2019 Future by Lund and Point of Value arranged a scenario building within the framework of the big European cooperative project Cultural and Creative Spaces and Cities, CCSC. All Future by Lunds Urban Lab local partners, Science Village, Trans Europe Halles, Mejeriet and Stenkrossen were participating together with actors from Lund and the rest of Sweden within the fields of culture, innovation and urban development.

The scenario building started with the notion that the conditions for creative creation, innovation and development are going to change and the participants were given the chance to think of the impact this would have on them. A prospect is that society within a few years will have limited public resources to spend on culture, innovation, entrepreneurship and similar areas. There is a risk that forces who wants to limit a provocative culture, critical thinking and development will grow stronger. Key questions are: Is there a climate threat? What is acceptable art? What should be financed and what should not? Therefore, a purpose with the scenario building was for the participants to ponder what conditions are necessary in the future to enable humans to be creative and innovative but also to be provoking and think critically.  

For two days the group got to analyse and to lift different possible scenarios which lies 6-10 years into the future led by Point of Value's Bobby Forshell. From these scenarios’ strategies and approaches were built to enable success even in an uncertain future.  

Why working with scenario building?

Airlines do not educate their pilots through “trial and error”- they first practice in a simulator before they fly for real. Scenario building gives the opportunity to test how we should act in a simulated future. It is not about what we want, but what we see and how to prepare for coming changes.  Scenario building gives insights, knowledge and therefor an opportunity to act based on these rather than being reactive when it already has happened. In scenario building you get drilled to read signs in the time regardless of your opinions and then simulate what might follow. Through different scenarios one can also choose an approach and strategy and to become concrete in relation to big questions. Scenario building works with the big trends within politics, economics, social matters, technology and environment. These areas all affect each other, and to elevate the questions which are important but where the outcome is uncertain the participators use a special method called “intuitive logics” developed by Point of Value. This method creates different themes and gives the participants two possible outlets in the development - and therefore all possible scenarios exist somewhere in between.  

During the second day the groups got to present their scenarios and talk about how one had thought to reach them. It is also important to elevate what these scenarios mean, both for those we care about and for places like the City of Lund. Each participant also had the opportunity to take the shared scenarios with them to work with them in their own context and thus doing their own preparation for the future.

The result of this work will be published on our website.

Watch the video of the Scenario building here!