Hawai’i is perhaps most well-known for its warm tropical breezes, endless beaches and laid-back lifestyle. Soon, however, the aloha state may be known for something vastly more valuable: it’s innovative style of planning for the future. In recent months Hawai’i has become a hotbed of futures thinking;in particular, three home-grown projects showcase Hawaii’s potential to make foresight the state’s most lucrative export.

I had the pleasure of speaking at one such event: the first annual Hawai’i Futures Summit, which took place October 6-8. Designed by Richard (Kaipo) Lum, CEO of Vision Foresight Strategy Inc., the Summit was a brain camp for business and community leaders to “catalyze productive change in Hawai’i.” Attendees looking some relaxing down-time from the office at the luxurious Ihihani Resort were undoubtedly disappointed: this was a hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves and deep-dive-into-the-future event that tackled everything from the future of environmental waste to chaos theory.

Waikiki under waterAnother effort to envision Hawai’i’s futureis the populous-based Hawai’i 2050 Sustainability Summit, which unveiled last month a draft plan to chart the long-term future of the state. While promoting economic diversification and affordable housing were on the list of issues, sowere environmentalpreservation and cultural restoration, increasingly common themes in Hawai’i as the state continues to grapple with issues of political and cultural sovereignty.

And last but not least, some “future-shock therapy” from the team atJim Dator’sHawai’i Research Center for Futures Studies. Graduate students Jake Dunagan and Stuart Candy have been making waves with their project FoundFutures. The project is exploring four future scenarios for Honolulu’s Chinatown by creating and distributing art, artifacts, images, performances and other media that embody possible worlds to come, such as the poster above that depicts the struggle of the islands to recuperate after a future bird flu pandemic.

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