backcasting

backcasting. A method of forecasting or planning in which an event is posited as having occurred in the future. The question then becomes, How did this event come to be? For example, one might posit that, in the year 2050, the cost of a year’s worth of electricity for either a car or a home will be less than $10. The task then is to develop a scenario to explain how the posited future might actually come about. Backcasting offers a way to get a group to envision a desirable future and then determine what must happen in order for that goal to be reached.

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Dictionary

Submitted by John J Gottsman on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 09:43am.

This is a great project! I encourage WFS members to contribute additional terms and definitions.

Your Comments Are Welcome!

Submitted by Jeff Cornish on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 01:03pm.

You can comment on each term or on the project as a whole.

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