Causal layered analysis is offered as a new futures research method. Its utility is not in predicting the future but in creating transformative spaces for the creation of alternative futures. Causal layered analysis consists of four levels: the litany, social causes, discourse/worldview and myth/metaphor. The challenge is to conduct research that moves up and down these layers of analysis and thus is inclusive of different ways of knowing. –Sohail Inayatullah in CLA: poststructuralism as method and the CLA Reader

Simplified:

• define the issue (or question)
• discuss each layer separately (litany, systemic, worldview, myth/metaphor)
• cluster into themes
• after reaching the bottom layer, pick a different myth/narrative and create a scenario by moving up the other layers, up to the new events and behaviours in 'litany'

• Scenarios for sustainability
• Causal Layered Analysis: Poststructuralism as a method
• CLA Reader