Strategic Foresight Workshop

FORMAT

• Collaborative process that brings together a diverse group of stakeholders to explore potential futures
• There were 5 tables and each table had 8 to 9 participants from various backgrounds and ages to ensure inclusion of all current & future residents and interests throughout the 8,500-acre study area

ACTIVITIES

• Each table was asked to work collaboratively to:
• Analyze and sort future trends by high/low impact and high/low certainty
• Build a scenario based on a future positive disruption, negative disruption, “Blue skies” (perfect future) or no change
• Collect common themes
• Create a vision statement based on trends and common themes

TREND ANALYSIS

• Top high impact/high certainty trends:
  • Climate change
  • Infrastructure overhaul
  • Mass migration
  • Rural versus urban division
  • Reduced community engagement
  • Fiscal uncertainty
• Top high impact/low certainty trends:
  • New financial partnerships
  • Focus on hyper-localization
  • Nomadic workforce
  • Increase in off-gridding
• Top low impact/high certainty:
  • Electric vehicles,
  • Micro grids,
  • Tech-enabled healthcare

COMMON THEMES

• Take care of the environment: green development, green infrastructure, rural character, open space, green/clean energy.
• +Improve infrastructure: micro grids, clean power.
• +Support outdoor lifestyle: space for biking/walking, active transportation.
• +Work together: find consensus, care about each other, plan for the future.
• +Diversity of housing: range of types, prices, locations, styles throughout Denton. Diversity of architecture (no cookie-cutter subdivisions). Housing affordability. Multi-generational design/accessibility. Plan for aging in place.
• +Live/work/play environment: create a village with open space, retail, etc.
• +Majority agreed on “No Apartments” but not all

DEVELOPMENT OF VISION STATEMENT PROCESS

• Participants at each table at the Strategic Foresight Workshop were given a choice of creating their own vision statements from scratch using the common themes from the five scenarios, OR
• Enter the common themes in Chat GPT to get a vision statement as a starting point
• The majority participants chose to use Chat GPT as a starting point and then word smithed that statement to develop 8 different statements (including the Chat GPT statements)
• Following the Strategic Foresight Workshop, an online survey was conducted where the public at large voted on these 8 vision statements. The online survey also gave a choice to add people’s own statement if they did not like any of the 8 statements developed at the workshop.
• The Steering Committee at their meeting on May 30, 2023, will finalize the vision statement.