Resilience

Planning for “unknown unknowns” is in principle a challenge to the imagination; we have to systematically extend our understanding by pushing the borders of our existing thinking outward from our current perception of what is relevant, what is logical, what is causal.

Principles:

We apply four design principles in our Resilience Portfolio method. In order to define the borders of uncertainty, we focus on extremes; low probability events/drivers and descriptions of environments defined by the extreme ends of uncertainties. We process a large number of options, which is why we transform qualitative descriptions to quantitative ones. The method is web-based and participatory.

The ultimate goal of long-term planning is to support decision making in the short-term. Thus it is important to create and evaluate options and incorporate these into our planning such ways that we can prepare for / or benefit from the extreme events.