The Collaborative Future-Making research platform explores how we can envision inclusive and sustainable ways of living and thriving together. We do this through prototypes and discussions where people from all sectors of society are involved. Our multidisciplinary group of researchers have respective backgrounds in humanities, design, and social sciences.

Seminars spring 2021

This spring, researchers from the Collaborative Future-Making research platform host several seminars on a wide range of topics (full schedule is yet to be announced):

Seminar: Pushing social sustainable agendas

Platform affiliated researcher Rahel Weldeab Sebhatu took part in a seminar at the Museums as Catalysts for Change event: What role can museums play in the fight for a sustainable future?

Critical Imagination and Transformative Change

This seminar, held at Social Innovation Summit 2020, set out to discuss what the opportunities and challenges are to engage in processes of radical re-imagination and transformative change.

Glossary: Collaborative Future-Making

This glossary was first used within the research group as an exercise to share concepts that we found central to collaborative future-making, then to be used during the Imagining Collaborative Future-Making workshop. This collection of concepts reflects the heterogeneous and diverse character of the research group and a strong belief in that plurality regarding ontologies and epistemologies will be crucial to be able to handle the multiple uncertainties and complex challenges we have to face in the future.

Our research

Our work draws upon multidisciplinary, critical perspectives from the humanities and social sciences. We combine these perspectives with design research methods that are collaborative and constructive, such as making and prototyping.

One of our guiding concepts is critical imagination, which is about challenging basic assumptions, norms and structures for what constitutes socially, culturally, ecologically and economically sustainable futures.

Our research is carried out in collaboration with professionals and policy makers, as well as individuals and non-governmental organisations. Together, we prototype and discuss alternative and collaborative futures.

To summarise, the platform aims to:

  • envision and prototype inclusive and sustainable futures
  • develop ways for how these futures can be debated
  • work closely with actors from all sectors of society

Research methodologies and focus areas

Research methodologies and approaches include art, action research, co-design, discourse theory and analysis, feminism, hermeneutics, historicisation, performativity, phenomenology, postcolonial studies, posthumanism, science and technology studies, and social network analysis.

Focus areas include critical imagination, anthropocene storytelling, heterodox economies, collaborative resilience, and societal engagement.

Forskningsplattformen Collaborative Future-Making tar sin utgångspunkt i mänsklighetens bristande förmåga att föreställa sig hur världen skulle kunna vara annorlunda.

Ett centralt begrepp är "critical imagination" (kritisk föreställningsförmåga). Detta handlar om att ifrågasätta grundläggande antaganden, normer och strukturer. Syftet med detta är att vidga människors perspektiv på vad som skulle kunna utgöra socialt, kulturellt, ekologiskt och ekonomiskt hållbara framtider.

Plattformen utforskar hur vi kan föreställa oss dessa alternativa framtider samt formerna för hur vi gemensamt kan utforma, testa och debattera dem. Den tvärvetenskapliga forskargruppen är verksam inom humaniora, design och samhällsvetenskap.

Researchers, publications and projects

Total hits: 26
  • Andrea Botero, Aalto University, Finland
  • Davina Cooper, King's College London, UK
  • Max Koch, Lund University, Sweden
  • Andrew Morrison, The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Norway
  • Emily Spiers, Lancaster University, UK
  • Danielle Wilde, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Total hits: 2
Research Project

Transitioning towards sustainable water and waste management
Research Project

Grief and hope in transition

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