Evolving Curriculum to Prepare Students to Solve Problems That Don't Yet Exist: The Application of Horizon-Scanning

Joe Parcell

Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), 2026, vol. 8, issue 3

Abstract: Today’s agribusiness curriculum allows students to stack competencies in economic principles, business foundations, analytical reasoning, and practice through experience. It prepares students to work through messy, but solvable, future problems. This commentary describes how the curriculum may evolve to lean on its agricultural economics and agribusiness history but adapt to stay relevant. Based on a horizon-scanning exercise, we foresee the curriculum’s next iteration to emphasize “interconnected value chains.” The analysis identified five emerging forces that will create interconnected value chains-related problems that don’t exist today but likely will in the future: (1) connected economies, (2) clean technologies, (3) commodity and material scarcity and price risk, (4) regulation and legislative changes, and (5) business interruption. We also suggest the skills the curriculum should teach to prepare students for solving future problems. They include dynamic optimization, visual messaging, ethics, operations management, data science, and design thinking.

Keywords: Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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