Futures Hub strengthens foresight capability across the region

From Brisbane to Suva, with a brief detour to Aotearoa New Zealand, the NSC Futures Hub has been working across the region to build foresight capability and support long-term thinking on shared security challenges. 

In Queensland, participants from state and federal agencies joined an Introduction to Futures program focused on potential scenarios for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond. Using a range of foresight techniques, the program explored housing and public transport pressures, biosecurity risks, and competing narratives around social cohesion and belonging.

By bringing futures training to participants across states and territories, the team is helping grow a community of practice equipped to navigate uncertainty and plan for long-term resilience. 

This shared capacity building was also evident in the Futures Hub’s third visit to the Pacific Peace and Security Dialogue in Suva. The Dialogue brought together regional leaders, practitioners and partners to reflect on shared human security challenges and opportunities across the Pacific. As part of the program, the Futures Hub led an interactive ‘Futures Day’, where participants explored alternative regional futures for 2045 and 2060 through scenario-based discussions. These sessions helped translate long-term insights into practical priorities for action in support of a thriving Blue Pacific. 

Closer to home, Laura Stewart represented the Futures Hub at the Aotearoa Futures Forum, which brought together practitioners from across sectors to explore futures and foresight in the Oceania region. While in New Zealand, Laura also met with government officials and community organisations to discuss long-term policy stewardship, human security, and the intersections between poverty, inequality and national security across Australia and New Zealand. 

These engagements provided valuable opportunities to share insights from NSC’s Community Consultations initiative with the broader region and consider how the concerns and priorities of communities today can inform a more resilient shared future. 

Building skills and common ground across the region is a key opportunity for the NSC to contribute to a brighter, more cohesive future, and to this end we are planning more futures training in state capitals in 2026-27 – please reach out if you would like to host or join in our training. 