What if…
this
Was a space
A space for exploration
I guide groups into a fictional future story to get them into unknown territory and out of daily (im)possibilities. Together with a group of experts in systemic change, transformative play, behavioural science and social sciences we create experiences, games and workshops to facilitate an exploration of possible and preposterous futures.
A space for rehearsal
Together we make future memories. We simulate the situation and ask ourselves; how did we get here? What did we do and what didn't we do? Which things to we keep and what do we leave in the fiction. Together we rehearse these stories and create mental images of what we experienced together.
A space to play
We play serious games, where we are totally allowed to fail, or even die. We play with wild ideas, conversations and characters while testing out theories and foresight.
A space to imagine
These experiences are a way to activate your imagination and the imagination of the others. This collective imagination is then used as a tool to shape and tell our story of the future or to understand and feel what this future does to us as individuals and the group.
- What are we up against?
- What are the different interests at stake?
- What information is relevant?
- Which assumptions are correct or did we overlook? What bias is there?
- What is our hope for this future and what can we do now to get to that point in time?
Or an island...
Or the only city on that island ...
Who would live there?
How does it feel? How do we talk about it? What does it mean to different people? How does it change our behaviour and interpersonal relationships?
What do we want, what don’t we want and what are the consequences of this on our local community?
The above workshop designs are the result of design research into the dynamics of us-versus-them thinking, or polarisation.
They are part of an ongoing exploration into making social dynamics understandable and tangible by using collective imagination as a designtool.
This research on polarisation is a first step into developing a method of using storytelling, speculative design and transformative play to create a space for collective imagination.
Future scenarios are often focused on society as a whole, on technological innovations or system change. But rarely does it consider what major changes do to our local societies and you and me as individuals living our day to day life in that society. And especially how they affect our interrelationships with others and the immediate environment.
With the experiences and game forms designed to make the social dynamics of the We-Them thinking tangible, various groups of players make future memories that can then be used to take into account for more inclusive future narrative.