Tanja Hichert is a futurist with specialised skills in scenario planning, facilitating strategic conversations and scanning. She has 15 years of practical experience working for international corporations in the mining, oil and tobacco industries. In particular she served as the UK-based scenario planning manager for BAT plc and conducted futures work in countries like Russia, Italy, UAE and Africa. Her consultancy now supplies strategy futures services to South African and international clients in a wide range of industries including FMCG, media, insurance, mining and pharmaceuticals.

In addition to managing Hichert & Associates, Tanja is a senior research associate at the University of Stellenbosch´s Institute for Futures Research (IFR). She authors chapters on social development, environmental futures and sustainable development for the annual IFR ´Business Futures´ and produces the bi- monthly `Sustainability Watch´. She has also written a series of `Corporate Strategy Insights´ dealing with the greening of business, the future of management, innovations for a sustainable economy and how to strategise during turbulence.

Tanja also lectures and conducts workshops and scenario planning training courses.

Her public sector work includes projects on regional trade agreement futures and regional agricultural futures in association with the SA Institute for International Affairs and international NGO donor organisations. She has also conducted scenario work for a multidisciplinary team of conservationists, academics, landowners and the rural poor in combating alien plant species invasion whilst creating jobs in the Cape Fynbos floral kingdom.

Her consultancy supplies a monthly Southern African Horizon Scanning service to the Rockefeller Foundation who further disseminates it. Tanja also serves as a director of the South African node of the Millennium Project (a global participatory futures research think tank) and was instrumental in organising the first African Futures Conference which brought together futurists, scholars, business planners, and policy makers.

Entrance for non-members is R30 or R15 on presentation of a current student identity card.

Parking is freely available behind the building after 5pm.

Please RSVP to saiia.admin@telkomsa.net or call Pippa on 021 761 4842 or 083 3052339