The potential of design-driven futuring to support strategising for sustainable futures

Abstract

Abstract Urgent and consequential issues related to the climate crisis are driving forth research on how to facilitate the emergence of sustainable futures. Strategising can be considered as a key competency for steering current practices from unsustainable paths towards sustainable futures; however, it remains underexplored how it can be animated or supported. In this paper, strategising is conceptualised according to four elements: Envisioning alternative futures, interacting reflectively, thinking divergently, and adopting a systems perspective. The paper draws from five research-through-design experiments and explores the potential of design-driven futuring, that is, those approaches that integrate design and futuring methods and tools, to nurture strategising across its four elements. Our empirical findings suggest that design-driven futuring supports strategising for sustainable futures by fostering (1) creative spaces for immersion, (2) encounters for intra- and interpersonal reflections and (3) mutual understanding through the visuality of design.