The development of Expected and Preferred Futures ‘Heat-maps’ is a key part of discovering the shared vision. During the survey, people were asked to indicate on a 10 x 10 matrix (overlaying the scenario quadrants), the location of what we call the ‘Expected’ and ‘Preferred’ future.

The Expected future is in green, and it is where people believe the region will end up if there is ‘no change in what we are currently doing’. The Preferred future is in blue, and it is what people have identified as the most desired future for the region.

The circles (or dots) in this chart, represent the first level of averaging, derived by averaging the heat map responses by primary cohorts (age, gender etc.). The responses may be further filtered, using the filters’ drop-down menus to the right of the chart. The number of responses for each point on the chart may be seen by hovering over the circles within the graph.