WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FUTURE?

In 2019, the think tank Outdoor Futures wanted to shake and awake the industry, by creating a vision and a roadmap to become a global sustainability leader. Where did this lead? Suston reaches out to participants about their visions from then - and today.

BY GABRIEL ARTHUR

“The outdoor industry was born out of a passion for the great outdoors. By people, and for people, who in different ways loved being out in the wild. This heritage and love still exist - but we have created an industry that threatens and destroys what we care for the most.

Our vision is to find new innovative ways to protect and regenerate nature, while we - at the same time - make it more accessible, fun and safe for a growing global population.”

That was the brief summary of the Outdoor Futures think tank’s three-day meeting at the MonViso Institute in spring 2019. Fifteen sustainability managers and experts from the outdoor industry had been planning and preparing via Zoom for months. How could the power and commitment that many in the industry had begun to experience now take us all a big step forward? How would the issues move up the hierarchy to management and owners? Could Outdoor even become a driving, positive force in society at large?

Optimism was high as we gathered in the carefully renovated farmhouse on a hillside opposite the 3841-meter high Monviso - one of Italy’s most iconic peaks. In my Suston report I wrote:

“On the same day that we arrive at Monviso, the EU election is being held, where a green wave is sweeping over northern and western Europe. Two days earlier a Global Strike for the Future was organized in over 1,400 cities across 110 nations.”

Short talks, group discussions, workshop exercises with hundreds of post-it notes alternated with short hikes. The optimism was even greater when we left.

The results were summarized in a 25-page report, and the vision was presented a few weeks later at OutDoor by ISPO. Working groups would take the Outdoor Futures project forward.

At the same time, the European Outdoor Group (EOG) communicated its new vision: Doing profitable business while giving back more than what is taken, in terms of both people and nature.

A new think tank was planned to take place in Norway in the summer of 2020. But that didn’t happen. The global pandemic put the visioning process on hold, and Outdoor Futures was relegated to an infrequently used channel on Slack.

But was change and development in the industry also put on hold? Not according to those I talk to four years later. Several milestones along our roadmap seem to have been completed. But some visions are still far away from being realized - and new, even bolder ones are needed.

OUTDOOR FUTURES

THINK TANK

Participants in 2019:

Adam Hall

Angela Adams

Arne Strate

Benjamin Marias

David Ekelund

Florian Palluel

Gabriel Arthur

Giulio Piccin

Jane Turnbull

Joel Svedlund

Karla Magruder

Kjersti Kviseth

Melanie Kuntnawitz

Pamela Ravasio

Peter Hollenstein

Rebecca Johansson

Tansy Fall

READ THE SUSTON STORY FROM THE EVENT: