This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Thinking for the Long Term
23/05/2006
The Futures Project has been set up to allow Scotland to shape the best future possible among the uncertainties of a changing world, the First Minister said today.
In a major policy speech at Stirling University, Jack McConnell said the project was not an academic exercise but a necessary strategy to allow judgements to be made that would put Scotland in a strong position over the next two decades.
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Mr McConnell said:
"We have a highly sophisticated understanding of things that have held us back in the past, but we do not know with absolute certainty what will take us forward over the next 20 years and beyond.
"That's why I set up our Futures Project 18 months ago: to better understand the challenges we face, and the opportunities that may come our way.
"I've asked you here today because you represent almost every walk of life in Scotland. I hope you will join our efforts to ensure our country is thinking hard enough, radically enough - and long-term enough - to get Scotland in the place we want it to be 20 years from now.
"The Futures Project is not about trying to predict the future. It is about place and positioning.
"We need to spot the connections that will drive positive, rather than negative, outcomes. To take a clear-eyed look at the whole picture - the current strengths that Scotland might play to; the challenges that we will need to address; and the major forces that are likely to shape change. "
The project includes a Strategic Audit of contemporary strengths and weaknesses and a Trends Analysis of what is most likely to happen in the future.
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