Boston Scenarios Group

The Boston Scenarios Group is a fledgling network of scholars and activists in the Boston region who are trying to develop inspiring visions of "Deep Change" for the city and its environs in 2050. Following a workshop on June 2, 2005, convened by Tellus Institute, the group is now working to enhance preliminary scenarios for different sectors: the economy, health, transportation and land-use, energy, water, and so on. Small technical working groups have been formed to help develop quantitative relationships for generating the scenarios. There are also complementary narrative visions that need to be elaborated and checked for consistency with one another. See the website for details.

The objective is to build a shared conception of a vibrant and socially cohesive city of the future that satisfies sustainability goals. These include racial and economic justice, reduced overall work-loads, and environmental loadings that are consonant with global per capita emissions needed for a sustainable planet. The project is premised on the view that a shared perspective on where we want to go is a necessary (though not sufficient) first step to building the sort of coherent urban movement that could bring about far-reaching social and environmental change over the long term.

Anyone interested in joining this group should contact Anna Fleder (afleder@tellus.org) or James Goldstein (jgold@tellus.org)