The proposal is to create software that would combine a number of ICT technologies in order to allow the user to ask 'what if' questions about their environment, ie to simulate change from present landscapes in specific locations to several options for future landscapes.

The project would combine digital mapping and photo images to create landscape options as an aid for decision taking. This could, for example, relate to evaluating a landscape as a possible location for a new housing area or other development. Elements of the technologies to do this already exist, for example, the ability to change landscapes in games such as Sim City, the use of GIS technology to create both plan view and 3D landscapes, and the ability to morph between images. Programs that allow the user to plan gardens and kitchens also contain elements of what I envisage. These elements, however, do not appear to exist in a single program that would allow the user to visualise and perhaps also to 'walk through' a simulated landscape. The program would be capable of selecting a base layer of contours to create a 3D image. It could simulate the landscape of an OS map as it is at present by using a range of standard images, perhaps supplemented by photos, both ground and vertical air. It would then be capable of being manipulated to create a future landscape by inputting different options for future land use. Links could be made to a GPS system to create accurate locations for the landscape. The user would be able to create scenarios based on different approaches to planning, eg to create high-tech or a 'green' sustainable future. This would involve creating an extensive bank of images on which to draw, either simplified or based on photos. These would fit into the landscape at an appropriate scale to create a realistic effect. An additional facility could be to create an evaluation system based on numeric weightings, ie to 'score' different landscapes according to their aesthetic, economic and other values. The weightings could be varied depending on the type of future that is envisaged.

A stated aim of the National Curriculum is to prepare students in schools for their future. Yet few subjects on the school curriculum adequately encourage students to consider the possible future environment in which they could be living. Perhaps work in geography comes the closest to encouraging students to think about this and the way in which they have a part in creating it over the next few decades. It is difficult to engage students in future thinking. It involves a high degree of creativity and for many, the ability to visualise the future. The software would enable students to become active participants in the planning process, something they are encouraged to do through the citizenship agenda. The links with thinking skills are also obvious as the students would be engaged in prediction and applying ideas. Some ICT-literate teachers currently attempt to engage their students in this kind of work by using existing 'odds and ends' of technologies (see above). An alternative approach is to get the students to draw diagrams or build models. In the USA, there are state competitions to engage the students in planning future landscapes. Similar projects have appeared in the UK from time to time, eg as part of millennium events. An approach I have used with my own students is to use Lego blocks; hardly 21st century technology, though it works!