This session described the impact the full course could provide to participants in their daily roles, and the change that they can help to influence and catalyse in their own organisations and respective countries. Starting with the broader drivers of change and systemic issues that are complexifying urban and economic development, the Southeast Asian context was brought to life for participants by discussing potential future state scenarios, and importantly how these future trends could map onto their own country’s perspective.

This set the scene for a new approach to supporting continuing growth, framing the importance of integrating sustainability in long-term planning of capital infrastructure programmes. The process and application of hierarchical decision making was introduced, drawing out opportunities and complexities with respect to the context of Southeast Asian countries and ASEAN. In addressing this context, the module aligned the remainder of the course to key themes for developing sustainable futures, helping participants to focus their learning pathway through an individual goal setting activity.