Ana Margarida Silva, researcher at CEI – Centre for Intercultural Studies and FCT doctoral student, took part in the Training School ‘Shaping tomorrow: Tools For Futures Thinking & Group Decision Making’ of COST Action CA21125 MARGISTAR ‘A European forum for revitalisation of marginalised mountain areas’. The Training School took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 7 to 9 May 2025. This event was designed to equip participants with practical tools and techniques and advanced methodologies to explore and shape the future.
During the Training School, participants had the chance to create and develop practical tools and techniques for the sustainable future of marginalised mountains, including scenario planning, Horizon Europe project analysis and driver mapping and backcasting, among others. The programme also allowed for the development of collaborative decision-making, group facilitation techniques, multi-criteria decision-making methods and the use of GIS-based tools for ecosystem analysis.
On the last day of the event, participants visited the Kočevje area in southern Slovenia, where the Kočevje Business Incubator, a public institute for entrepreneurship, education and innovation, is located. The day ended with a visit to the scenic Kolpa Valley in Osilnica, a river bordering Croatia, located in one of Slovenia’s least developed and most marginalised municipalities. This fieldwork allowed for closer contact with local communities and a greater understanding of the challenges they face in their daily lives.
