Yoseph Ayele, Co-Creator at KiwiConnect, discusses the challenges and opportunities for a small and distant economy linking to a global economy at day one of the three-day ForesightNZ workshop in Wellington on 27–29 April. Yoseph’s three ideas for how New Zealand can connect globally and lead by example were:
- NZ as an Incubation Nation: build a talent-driven economy that develops solutions to significant global problems
- Strengthen a localised economy while increasing global connectivity
- Align NZ economy to directly contribute towards societal and planetary wellbeing
You can watch the video of his presentation on the McGuinness Institute’s YouTube channel, or view it below.
Yoseph discussed New Zealand’s geographical location and small size as advantages that allow for agility in testing out innovative solutions to global problems. He also emphasised the power of having a high density of talented people working in one place. Yospeh closed his presentation by asking participants to close their eyes and imagine what the New Zealand they want to live in looks like in 40 years time.
ForesightNZ playing cards
Yoseph’s presentation led to the development of the ForesightNZ Event Card: Meat and Milk grown in US labs are approved for human consumption; NZ exports plummet. This card is one out of a pack of 64 that was developed at the ForesightNZ workshop. Participants created a robust foresight tool in the form of a pack of cards based on the events and trends that they believe could significantly shape New Zealand’s long-term future. They then designed three different games to play with the pack. The games aim to develop a deeper understanding of the possible futures that might occur if a small number of those cards played out in real life. The pack of cards are in the final stage of production and will soon be made available to download, print and cut your own – keep an eye out on the website. They are also available to purchase from our online store. The accompanying booklet is now published on the website and available to purchase here.
About the ForesightNZ workshop
Project: ForesightNZ aims to build public policy capability in New Zealand by encouraging long-term, agile thinking around our uncertain future. Initiated in 2008, ForesightNZ is about conceptualising the broad range of possible futures for New Zealand through up-to-date tools and conceptual approaches used in the field of futures studies. The primary focus of the ForesightNZ: Untangling New Zealand’s long-term future workshop was to develop a way to deal with the increasing complexity and uncertainty in the world around us. This workshop was a collaboration between the New Zealand Treasury and the McGuinness Institute. To watch other speaker presentation videos from the ForesightNZ workshop, head to the McGuinness Institute’s YouTube Channel.