Transformative Scenarios to Reshape the State of Rio de Janeiro’s Future

Discover how Reos Partners is supporting Dream Factory to create a more sustainable future for the State of Rio de Janeiro by using transformative scenarios.

Reos Partners has joined forces with Dream Factory in the GLOCAL Experience (GLOCAL) to create scenarios of possible futures for the State of Rio de Janeiro. The scenarios are part of a larger process of social transformation of the State and align with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Dream Factory is a live experience company that creates engaging communication platforms to promote social, behavioural, or economic transformations. Initiated in May 2022 by Dream Factory, GLOCAL is a social innovation laboratory that aims to establish dialogues with different sectors of Brazilian society to reimagine and reintegrate territories for a more sustainable future towards 2030. GLOCAL provides the public with spaces for social interactions, debates, workshops, immersive activities, and more.

"Public participation and input are vital to helping translate global goals into local transformations. In times of so much polarization, we need to bring diverse groups of Brazilians together to bridge divides and collaborate for progress –  Reos Partners are the best to help do that."

Duda Magalhães, President of Dream Factory

GLOCAL is a long-term project running until December 2030, recognizing that transformational change needs sustained collective action.

Phase one: all voices count

The first stage of GLOCAL was a nine-day event in Rio de Janeiro in July earlier this year. The event brought together 170 speakers and 38,000 people, integrating all layers of society, including representatives of companies, governments, institutions, academia, civil society, and community members. Over the nine days, over 80 hours of dialogue took place, and art, culture, content, and technology were means of reflection on how to act to achieve the SDGs collectively.

Brazilian indigenous leaders Ailton Krenak and Samela Sateré Mawé at the GLOCAL Conference with a copy of “Collaborating with the Enemy” by Reos Partners’ Adam Kahane.

"Glocal experience is designed to become an ecosystem that aims to mobilize society within their local territories with the objective of inspiring accelerated collaboration towards the global ambitions of the SDGs."

Rodrigo Baggio, Head of Glocal Experience

Phase two: mobilising for a better tomorrow

In its second stage, active until May next year, GLOCAL and Reos are bringing together local individuals to build transformative scenarios –  stories of possible futures – for the State of Rio. The diverse group, representing a microcosm of the State, will also identify priority UN SDGs and strategies for the social transformation of the State towards 2030.

“The team responsible for thinking about these possible futures needs to reflect the diversity that characterizes the State of Rio, the different forces influencing its present and future, and consider the specificities of the State of Rio de Janeiro's reality. We’ll open spots for the public and private sectors, civil society organizations, academia, and the spectrum of leaders who can influence the implementation of the necessary transformations,” says Christel Scholten, Reos Partners Lead Facilitator.

"We include, for example,  the peripheries, the favelas, and their community leaders. We consider the industries in Rio, such as oil and gas and tourism, as well as other centres of power, unions, religious, spiritual and indigenous leaders, young people, and different age groups and ideologies."

Christel Scholten, Reos Partners

 

Transformative scenarios challenge thinking, test assumptions, create new imaginations, and build skills, relationships, capabilities, and prototypes of a better future. By creating an environment of trust, the process encourages participants to work and move forward together, even if they have differences.

After creating the scenarios, the group will identify the more desirable scenarios they’d like to advance, priority SDGs and strategies for transforming the State. The idea is that this becomes a continuous platform, a social innovation lab for the next eight years that mobilizes actors and transformative actions toward a better future by 2030.

Christel reinforces that when addressing complex problems, we are continuously discovering what the journey looks like, what is and isn't working and adjust accordingly. The process is not a straight line. “However, the important thing is to start, take the first step, pause, evaluate, take the next step, and so on, working together to contribute to the transformation and future we want,” she concludes.