1. Imagining Future Urban
PAIN CONSULT
Concept design workshop
Challenges
A Dialogic Design Workshop
Peter Jones, OCAD University
Sept 12, 2012

2. Imagining Canada’s Future 2030
Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council
• Across Canada - 6 Regional panel sessions
OCADU led with York, Ryerson, UOIT, Windsor
• Based on large foresight / scan project “Shaping Tomorrow”
3500 trends, 70K insights, initial set > 200 trends
• We proposed a focused panel on a well-framed issue to derive
challenges in response to a single major trend: Urbanization
• 18 members selected from S. Ontario for STEEP/CI + diversity
Requisite Variety

4. Requisite Variety
Sampling approach based on Ashby’s systems principle
• STEEP CI Criteria: Social, Technology, Economy, Ecology, Political, Culture / Intellect
• Diversity: Age cohort, Academic, Professional, ethnicity, gender
• Smaller groups that meet stricter stakeholder criteria
• Invested in the future problem, sufficient care, action

5. Structured Dialogic Design
• “Co-laboratory of Democracy” approach – Strongly democratic
• Multi-staged, progressive reasoning process
• Cogniscope software (Root Cause Mapping)
• Multi-Facilitated
• Canonical, rigorous
• Guides dialogue
toward effective action
• Employed as action
research
• Well published in social
& systems literatures

6. Democratic - For complexity & power
• Cyprus Reunification Dialogues (1990 – 2011)
EU project for Israeli-Palestinian dialogues
• WHO Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis Partners, Clinicians, Villagers &
Pharma from multiple agencies (1999)
• Transnational Indigenous Leaders Dialogue on Globalization:
40 Indigenous leaders from Americas and New Zealand & experts
• US Forest Service - Forest Service Priority Setting (2003)
• Alternative Energy Future Planning, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance

7. Diagnosing Problematique
1
Deliberative co-created design of 2
an envisioned social system
3

9. Clarifying Challenges

10. Clustering Challenges

11. “Obamavision” Wiki
11

12. Constructing Challenges into Influence Map

13. ICF Influence Map – 12 Challenges

14. Resolves Groupthink
• “When concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive in-
group that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative
courses of action. (Janis, 1971)
• Spreadthink:
Unable to reach any genuine consensus, or even majority view
toward component aspects of a complex issue
• Clanthink: When like groups maintain concurrence within group
• Linkthink: When people “link” like ideas in concurrence
Warfield: “Facilitators who try to bring groups to a consensus without the aid of
some methodology that resolves the difficulties caused by Spreadthink may well
be driving the group to Groupthink, and thus helping to arrive at a decision that
lacks individual support and, usually, lacks substance.

15. Triggering Question
Triggering Question
“In the face of increasing urbanization worldwide, what future
challenges do we anticipate for Southern Ontario, now through 2030?"
Clarify the meaning, and co-create the TQ so we
own it as a group.

16. Generation
Triggering Question
“In the face of increasing urbanization worldwide, what future
challenges do we anticipate for Southern Ontario, now through 2030?"
Your response: Write 3 challenge statements on single sheet.
Short phrase that distills the essence of a complex problem as a challenge
Not a solution “create alternative transportation systems”
Or an outcome “Better regional government”
Pair up & workshop all 3, & refine. Then read one each in turn.
Write your chosen challenge (or 2) one per sheet and post.

17. Rapid Clarification
Triggering Question
Read one challenge, in turn around circle.
Questions for clarification – quickly – taken in this
round.

18. Clustering Challenges
Triggering Question
Group of 4-5 – Go to wall & cluster together / name categories
Group 1 - 5 Minutes
Group 2 – 4 Minutes
Group 3 – 3 Minutes
Group 4 – 2 Minutes
Based on Delphi & iterative refinement.

19. Voting
Triggering Question
Mark an X on up to 3 different challenges
Order challenges in cluster by votes.

20. Scenarios
Triggering Question
Make 5 DIVERSE groups of 5-6
Each group selects one item from each category. You can copy!
Construct at least one scenario describing the future relationship of these
challenges, their co-evolution together & their possible resolutions.
Position sheets in a narrative order
Sketch images of the possible relationships, influences, outcomes
Present each in 5 min rapid round