The focus of contributions centred around life after COVID-19 and how we move into the recovery stages in the medium term beyond the current crisis. The discussion was framed around the re-thinking of high-level global objectives regarding the economic and financial implications of COVID-19.
The immediate collective concerns at a global, national and more local levels have been humanitarian – protecting the most vulnerable and the economic system from the most damaging consequences.
The stage that we now face is to look at complex challenges of the phased restarting of the economy. For example, considering the following questions: What has COVID changed?; has anything changed permanently?; what should change?; and how should global and national priorities change in the light of COVID?
The 2008 financial crisis provides some comparable context – like COVID, this crisis went beyond its immediate impact (on the financial system) to damage the wider economy and society. The way the global financial system had evolved was neither sustainable or resilient. The first stage of the response to the crisis was to prevent global financial meltdown and a seizing up of the banking system.
However, as the worst fears were averted, the pressure for change evaporated, losing the momentum to rebuild an alternative, sustainable financial system. There is a concern that we may experience a similar scenario in 2020 with the response to COVID.
Furthermore, health experts and economists are concerned that this won’t be the last pandemic and they could become even more devastating in the future? There is a big question mark over how this will impact globalisation, will economic models have to have a greater emphasis on protecting public health – and give a greater priority and resilience to this system? Given the lessons of this pandemic, how urgent is it to build greater resilience against any future shock? 
We are therefore living in a time of huge uncertainty - scenario thinking is used to help think about possible futures and make contingency plans and rehearse for the future. It helps us make sense of where we are now and articulate our assumptions about the future.
To some extent many of the issues that have to be addressed in any pandemic recovery plan were already in train e.g. changing demographics, the slowing of globalisation, the rise in inequalities and the climate energy. COVID recovery both sharpens the challenges and offers an opportunity to make changes more urgently.
Four scenarios have been developed by the Scottish Enterprise work (more details in the presentation):
The passing storm – with high levels of cooperation and a relatively less sever pandemic, where impacts are relatively greater for smaller companies and poorer people;
Lone wolves – where the pandemic is more severe and cooperation is low and global flows become more restricted;
Good company – where progressive companies play a key part in the recovery and there is a move towards greater stakeholder capitalism;
Sunrise in the east – where countries in East Asia are more effective in managing the pandemic and responding to it and become more influential.
Following the presentations the breakout sessions focused on the relationship of the scenarios to the following themes: 
Infrastructure and Place
 Labour Market and Tackling Inequalities
 Business Resilience
Climate Change and Energy
And addressed the following questions: 
How might we need to re-think existing plans and priorities post-Covid? 
What ambitions might be accelerated or stalled? What new opportunities and risks are we now facing? 
How might we need to evolve what priorities we deliver and how?
Looking back from 2025, what are the top 3 issues that Scotland’s economic development system has successfully addressed to help it become more resilient?

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