Environmental futures research: experiences, approaches, and opportunities

Abstract

These papers, presented in a special session at the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management in June 2011, explore the transdisciplinary field of futures research and its application to long-range environmental analysis, planning, and policy. Futures research began in the post-World War II era and has emerged as a mature research field. Although the future of complex social-ecological systems cannot be predicted, these papers show how futures research can offer perspectives and methods that help researchers, decisionmakers, and other stakeholders explore alternative futures and gain environmental foresight—insight that can inform decisionmaking on environmental challenges. The second half of the collection applies the methods and approaches of futures research to natural resource management.

Titles contained within Environmental futures research: experiences, approaches, and opportunities

• Foreword
• Futures research: A neglected dimension in environmental policy and planning
• An approach to the future
• A framework for developing foresight in natural resource management
• Global mega forces: Implications for the future of natural resources
• Scenarios and decisionmaking for complex environmental systems
• The Northern Forest Futures Project: A forward look at forest conditions in the northern United States
• Linking global scenarios to national assessments: Experiences from the Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment
• Environmental futures research at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Citation

Bengston, David N., comp. 2012. Environmental futures research: experiences, approaches, and opportunities. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-107. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 79 p.