Causal Layered Analysis

A toolkit to create alternative futures
UNGP - Foresight Initiative

What is it?

Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) is a four-level sensemaking approach to creating new futures. It takes participants through four levels of analysis: the surface understanding of an issue, the causes creating and sustaining the situation, the different perspectives shaping it and the underlying stories that might feed it. This toolkit contains a workshop template and a participant handout.

Use it to

  • Support the development of rich scenario narratives
  • Facilitate a multi-cultural discussion about the future 
  • Understand the roots behind our assumptions

Acknowledgments

Adaptation of technique by Sohail Inayatullah

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