Dalsland 2050 – What can the future look like?

Welcome to a workshop where we will explore possible futures for Dalsland together. You are welcome regardless of your age, whether you live here, work here, run a business, are active in a local association, or are simply curious about the future of Dalsland. The day builds on the development of future scenarios for Dalsland, part of the project The Good Life in Dalsland. The aim is to make different futures tangible and easy to understand, while also learning about methods for futures work.

Together, we will create four different visions of Dalsland in 2050. How do people live, work, and travel? How have nature, services, businesses, and local communities developed? What opportunities have emerged, and what challenges have we had to address? We will explore these questions through fictional characters living in the Dalsland of the future, such as a teenager, an entrepreneur, a visitor, and even nature itself.

We are not trying to predict the future or decide which future is best. Instead, we will explore several plausible futures and what they could mean for Dalsland. By bringing together different experiences and perspectives, we hope to gain a richer understanding of what the paths ahead might look like. At the same time, we will explore futures work as a tool for local and regional development, focusing on how the public sector, citizens, and civil society can collaborate most effectively in this type of process.

Insights from the dialogue will be incorporated into the ongoing scenario development work, with the goal of strengthening collaboration and supporting strategic decision-making for Dalsland’s long-term development.

Two ways to participate

• Full-day participation, 9.30–15.00 (coffee from 9.00, lunch and snack included). 40 places available on a first-come, first-served basis. You will join a working group that develops one of the four future scenarios and follow that scenario throughout the day. 
• Drop in for a while, between 10.00 and 14.30 (coffee and snacks available, lunch not included). Come when it suits you, either in the morning or the afternoon, and stay as long as you like. At our open stations, you can contribute to the map, write a letter from nature, or create a postcard from 2050. After 13:00, you can also take part in reviewing the four future scenarios developed by the working groups.

Participation is free of charge. No prior knowledge is required. The most important thing is that you would like to explore the future together with others.

Registration: no later than 10 November. Here, you can indicate how you would like to participate, whether you will attend the full day, and any dietary requirements. Click here to register.

Unable to attend on 24 november? Please consider completing our short survey. It takes five minutes, and the responses will be used during the workshop. Click here to access the survey.

The dialogue is organised in collaboration between Region Västra Götaland, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, HDK-Valand at the University of Gothenburg, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) and the County Administrative Board of Västra Götaland.

About Foresight

Foresight is an interdisciplinary field that systematically and rigorously identifies change, understands emerging developments, and explores multiple possible futures. Its purpose is not to predict the future, but to improve our understanding of the choices available today, enabling us to develop resilient plans and make robust decisions.