Designing the Future: A Journey Through Energy Ville

Today the X edition students took in their first Service Design Pill, under the direction of Thomas Markussen & Eva Knutz, from the Social Design Unit at the University of Southern Denmark they will approach the topic of Futures Studies. Students will be exposed to the multidisciplinary filed of future studies, as well as its increasing traction in design. They will be challenged to design a future scenario for a city facing a critical challenge in energy provisions in the years 2030-2035 through a what-if scenario. 

Throughout this three day course, students will learn to distinguish between future studies, speculative design & design fiction, as well as acquiring knowledge of the key concepts and tools used in the field. Developing an ability to frame critical challenges and translating them into design directions as well as understanding how to design future scenarios that align with the wider socio-economic panorama.

At the end of this module, students will use anticipatory techniques and ways of Future Making to design future user scenarios and service design proposals; using empirical fictions, sketches and prototypes.  The class will be introduced to a method toolbox and will be supervise in its use, with specific time given for sharing and critical discussions. By the end of the course they will have acquired the capacity to replicate what they experimented and critically adapt it to their own personal project contexts and requirements.