Supporting regional cooperation through inclusive facilitation and strategic foresight
A design-driven approach to regional collaboration
The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) brings together nations and territories of the Greater Caribbean to promote cooperation, dialogue, and coordinated action across the region. In a time of growing environmental, social, and geopolitical complexity, the organization sought new ways to anchor its strategic planning in inclusive, forward-looking methods.
Goals of the project
Empact was invited to support the strategic planning efforts through two distinct but connected engagements:
- Moderating a high-level political event focused on regional integration on April 28-May 1, 2025
- Facilitating a strategic foresight workshop for the ACS Secretariat on May 2, 2025
”Here we are together trying to imagine the greater Caribbean that we want in 2035. Through a foresight approach, through strategic scenario planning, mapping uncertainty and risk and then backcasting to understand what is the best way to get us where we want to be. This is what we call planning for success. ”
– Juan Elias Chebly, Strategic Planning Coordinator, Office of the Secretary General, Association of Caribbean States
Moderation and facilitation
Creating space for shared vision at the high-level event
Empact’s work began on the public stage, moderating a High-level event with ministers, diplomats, regional leaders and the ACS Secretariat staff for four days. Our goal was to ensure that each voice could be heard, while advancing the event’s purpose: identifying shared challenges and possibilities for future cooperation. Drawing on our expertise in inclusive dialogue, we used a mix of tools to ensure that everyone’s voices could be heard, allowing for both open reflection and concrete takeaways from all.
From stage to strategy: building future-proof capacity
On day five, we worked with the ACS Secretariat in a more intimate setting to explore strategic foresight as a tool for regional planning. Together we co-created future scenarios to stress-test ACS priorities, completed a backcasting exercise and identified long-term drivers of change. Through participatory exercises, the Secretariat laid the foundation for the upcoming strategy by exploring different variables —from climate migration to gender equality and digital infrastructure—and how these might reshape the Greater Caribbean in the coming decades.
Outcomes
Inclusive and dynamic high-level political dialogue
Renewed commitment to regional collaboration
Strengthened internal capacity within the Secretariat to use foresight in strategic planning
Shared ownership over key uncertainties and regional development trajectories
”Brilliantly done and moderated, consistently throughout the days. I loved the facilitators, they knew how to address every situation well and they were very sympathetic and kind.”
– Participant of the High-level event
Why it matters?
For regional organizations like ACS, the future is not a distant abstraction, it is a daily reality that demands proactive collaboration and imaginative policy-making. Empact’s approach combines human-centered design, facilitation, and strategic foresight to help institutions not just adapt to change, but shape it.