In 2003, the then Sustainable Ecosystems Division of the CSIRO was engaged by the Central Coast Region of NSW to undertake a detailed regional futures analysis based on a dynamic systems approach (Senge, 1992). A key component of such a research approach was the need to better understand and appreciate the historical context of previous regional planning policy initiatives. As a regional planning practitioner of several years experience, I was engaged by the CSIRO to undertake this “learning from the past” investigation.

This paper summaries the value of such a research project by both examining the methodology adopted and findings arising from such an investigation. In short, the paper argues that as a consequence of reflecting on past policy experiences it is possible to better understand and appreciate what policy decisions were previously undertaken, and subsequently improve the opportunities for future policy decision making and implementation.

A total of eighteen individuals were interviewed for the project. The regional participants chosen to be interviewed were a mixture of previous community leaders, politicians or senior professional bureaucrats. To encourage frank discussion and minimise any possibility of conflict of interests, all research participants at the time of interview were no longer in their substantive positions they once held.

he process of identifying key individuals and relying on oral histories is not without methodological deficiencies. Whilst acknowledging these potential weaknesses, the project nevertheless was able to make a valuable contribution to regional planning on the Central Coast by identifying previous experiences and policy relationships as they related to matters of social, economic, environmental and local/ regional governance.

The information arising from this research benefited the larger regional futures analysis in several ways. Firstly, the information was able to provide the necessary context to develop potential future scenarios for the region. In short, understanding ones past helps to understand potential futures. Secondly, the development of any systems models is largely dependent on the ability to critically identify all potential variables that may impact the system under examination. The independent study of past experiences is a valuable approach to identify what those variables may actually be.