the gaps and meet any needs. Scenario planning Scenarios are one of the most popular and persuasive methods used in the Futurology. Government planners, corporate strategists and military analysts use them in order to aid decision-making. The term scenario was introduced into planning and decision-making by Herman Kahn in connection with military and strategic studies done by RAND in the 1950s. It can be defined as a rich and detailed portrait of a plausible future world, one sufficiently vivid that a planner can clearly see and comprehend the problems, challenges and opportunities that such an environment would present. A scenario is not a specific forecast of the future, but a plausible description of what might happen. Scenarios are like stories built around carefully constructed plots based on trends and events. They assist in selection of strategies, identification of possible futures, making people aware of uncertainties and opening up their imagination and initiating learning processes. One of the key strengths of the scenario process is its influence on the way of thinking of its participants. A mindset, in which the focus is placed on one possible future, is altered towards the balanced thinking about a number of possible alternative futures. Future history A future history is a postulated history of the future. Some authors for example science fiction writers construct as a common background for fiction. The author may include a timeline of events for this history. A related field is alternate history, which assumes that the event or events at a point in past history turned out differently (POD=point of departure) and then draws a fictional future timeline from that event. Monitoring It is a process that aims at evaluation of events, as they occur or just after. It involves activities like scanning, detecting, projecting, assessing, responding and tracking. Monitoring is one of the fundamental activities performed by Futures Studies. Content analysis This technique is used for the systematic and objective study of the particular aspects of various 'messages'. Such 'messages' can be found in books, journals, newspapers, private letters, publications of political parties, reports, surveys, interviews, television, Internet and so on. This method, in order to be reliable and valid, needs to be performed with high competency. Backcasting (eco-history) It is a technique that often is pointed out as an opposite to forecasting. It involves identification of a particular scenario and tracing its origins and lines of development back