Community members and elected city officials dealt with situations from getting millions of dollars from an energy to severe drought conditions in the midwest on Thursday evening. The scenarios weren't real though - they were playing "The Futures Game."
"It's a scenario-planning exercise," Webster City Economic Director David Toyer said. "It presents them with a baseline with a starting year, and they are the decision makers of the community."
The leaders are given news and information - local, state, national and world - and must make a choice at a decision point on what direction the community will go.
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-Daily Freeman-Journal photo by Carrie Olson
Webster CIty community members and city officials came together Thursday evening to participate in a scenario-planning activity called “The Futures Game.” Teams made critical decisions for a midwest town for the short and long term.
"They are faced with a critical decision on something that has happened," he continued. "They must make another choice from there which keeps building."
From the starting point to the end, it equals out to 30 years.
"They must ask themselves where does your community end up?" Toyer said. "And they must look at the economy, environment and society. What is the top priority and what is not when making the decisions. Sorting out as a group is what is the most important factor in the decision-making process."
He said that part of the goal was to get people to think differently.
"It's not just the short-term but the long-term impacts of a decision," he said. "But these are also similar to decisions that city officials in a community face. This allows elected officials and community members to interact as a group to see how they make decisions. People see better where both sides are coming from."