by Steven Ames
Introduction
Many of today’s community visioning projects can trace their work back to futurist Alvin Toffler and his concept of “anticipatory democracy” – the notion that governance can evolve and adapt to change whilst engaging citizens in the process. In practice, anticipatory democracy blends elements of futures research, long-range planning, grassroots public participation, and, ideally, a healthy measure of creativity. As an adjunct to traditional community planning, visioning promotes greater awareness of societal change and deeper citizen involvement. It can also provide communities with a stronger sense of control over their destinies, bringing citizens together in a uniquely different context to consider their common future. And it explicitly encourages them to explore new ideas and possibilities.(continue…)