Futures Lab Fryslân: Exploring the Future of the Province Together
The Province of Fryslân wanted an inspiring, shared story about Fryslân in 2030, as a foundation for long-term policy. ETFI facilitated a scenario planning process to build this story together with people from across the organisation.
Project duration: From 2019
The challenge
Society is changing fast, driven by technological, demographic, economic, social and political forces. For a province, staying relevant in such a complex and unpredictable world means looking at the future in new ways.
In 2019, the Province’s business strategy department set out to strengthen its strategic capacity, building on the environmental vision and the legacy of Leeuwarden-Fryslân European Capital of Culture 2018.
Our approach
The story was developed through a cyclical dialogue, starting with a group of people from different policy domains within the Province. The plan was to widen this dialogue step by step to other governments and organisations, with ETFI gradually stepping back. Albert Postma worked closely with Berend Tirion and Henk Groenwold of the Province, and 29 employees contributed, from policy advisors and strategists to team leaders and area managers.
The impact
In the first cycles, the participants developed four scenarios for Fryslân. For each scenario, they assessed the implications for every policy domain and outlined an overarching strategy to respond to its challenges.
Although the project ended after these first cycles, it showed how scenario planning can open up a shared conversation about the future within a government organisation. The case is described in the book Scenario Planning and Tourism Futures (2024).
What could we discover together?
Whether you have a research question, a project idea or an interest in collaborating, we'd love to hear from you.
Contact our team!