Imagining the Impact of Globalisation on the Future of Australia's Rural Communities

Abstract

The art of forecasting, and particularly scenario construction, is little used in geographical research outside of the demographer's realm. However, the author has recently researched innovative businesses in small rural towns located in cotton growing regions, a study necessitating future imagination. This article reports on the approach used and some of the major findings, including major global forces at work, and the enormous implications for the transformation of rural Australia. In such a context, economic and social sustainability equates with a process of dynamic stable adaptation.