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Yahara 2070 Discussion Guides

“Conversation is at the heart of what we know and how we know it. It is central to both constructing the future and learning how to act on it.” – Andrew Curry, The Futures Company

Want to engage your community or organization in a conversation about the future of water and people? The Yahara 2070 discussion guides are designed to do just that.

Similar to a book club, the discussion guides use the Yahara 2070 scenarios, four short stories about the future of the Yahara Watershed, to catalyze conversation.

And we encourage more than talk. You likely have a desire to do something about the future. As such, these guides can be springboards for efforts to work toward a desirable future.

The guides can be used by groups outside the Yahara Watershed, too. The issues they address are relevant to the counties the Yahara lies in - Dane, Columbia, and Rock - as well as broader Wisconsin.

There is a full-length and an abridged version of the guide to accommodate various capacities. Both can be completed as a weekly series, as a retreat or workshop, or in whatever format suits your group's needs. 

Download the guides below. Both versions have an Organizer and Discussion Leader Guide, which includes detailed instructions, and a simpler Participant Guide.

Here are some tips on organizing a discussion group.

Important: Everyone in your discussion group must read the Yahara 2070 scenarios or listen to the audio-stories before you begin!

Full-Length Version

   

Abridged Version

For groups that can commit the time to complete it and/or have some knowledge of natural resource issues in Wisconsin.

In four two-hour sessions, you will

  • Learn what long-term thinking means,
  • Use the Yahara 2070 scenarios to stimulate conversation about possibilities for the future,
  • Develop your own vision of a resilient and desirable future for water and people, and
  • Identify steps to work toward that vision from today.
   

For groups that can't commit the time needed for the full-length version and/or are still learning about natural resource issues in Wisconsin.

In two two-hour sessions, you will

  • Use the Yahara 2070 scenarios to stimulate conversation about possibilities for the future, and
  • Develop your own vision of a resilient and desirable future for water and people.
       

Organizer and Discussion Leader Guide

   

Organizer and Discussion Leader Guide

Participant Guide

   

Participant Guide

Please register your discussion group, so we can learn who is using the guides. And when you're done with your discussions, please provide us feedback through this short evaluation.

Download the scenario stories

Read Abandonment and Renewal | Listen to the audio-story

Read Accelerated Innovation | Listen to the audio-story

Read Connected Communities | Listen to the audio-story

Read Nested Watersheds | Listen to the audio-story