As 2025 began, the Region of Durham had just adopted a new Regional Strategic Plan. The Strategic Initiatives (SI) Division needed dedicated time to plan and integrate this new strategy as a team—strengthening connections across portfolios, developing new skills, and fostering a sense of possibility for the future.

To meet these needs, Creative Futures designed and facilitated a full-day planning session, helping the SI team start the year with fresh energy, new perspectives, and a shared purpose.

Our Approach:

Creative Futures collaborated with the SI team to design a customized full-day planning session focused on their goals and desired outcomes.

• Trend Exploration: Creative Futures built on existing research to identify 30+ key changes that could impact Durham Region’s future, supporting a hands-on trend activity.

• Scenario Development: A custom scenario game was designed by Creative Futures to spark creative thinking about long-term possibilities.

• Interactive Session: Creative Futures facilitated discussions, including the scenario game and artifact creation, to encourage broad thinking about opportunities and challenges ahead.

• Action Planning: A backcasting exercise was led by Creative Futures to translate scenario insights into concrete near-term actions.

• Follow-Up: A session summary report was provided within five business days, capturing key insights and recommended next steps.

Results:

The session helped the SI team explore how key changes might unfold and what those changes could mean for their work. It also strengthened their alignment to the shared vision in the Regional Strategic Plan, clarifying how different portfolios contribute to a common goal.

As a result, the team has started integrating futures thinking into their work, regularly sharing signals of change and discussing their implications.