16 Sep –
 3 Oct

SLU Campus Alnarp

Masterclass Urban Futuring

Lisette van Beek and Nina Vogel

Moving towards more sustainable and just cities requires radical change. But current visions of future cities remain dominated by techno-utopias such as ‘smart cities’. Where do these visions come from? And what are different ways to open-up possible futures?

In this masterclass, we will engage with these questions through the concept of futuring. Through lectures by leading futures experts and hands-on activities, you will learn to critically reflect upon the politics of anticipating futures and apply diverse futures methods to your own professional practice.

Through a series of five interactive sessions, you will:

  1. Learn about the power and politics of envisioning futures
  2. Recognise and critically reflect upon different futuring techniques such as modelling, foresight, experimentation, participatory scenarios and arts-based approaches
  3. Apply futures methods to your own professional practice

Format and participants

The program will consist of five half-day sessions at SLU Campus Alnarp during the fall of 2025. Each session will involve a lecture by futures experts and practitioners, followed by a workshop with hands-on activities in which you can apply theories or methods to your own practice and experiment with different methods. You are expected to prepare for sessions by reading and/or bringing a case from your own practice.

The masterclass is aimed at researchers and practitioners working on urban issues who are interested in learning more about futuring. Participants from various degrees of seniority as well as diverse disciplines are welcome. You can apply here and by sending a short motivation and CV.

Participant limit: 12

Selection criteria:

  • We want to support those with no or little experience first
  • We expect availability on all dates
  • We judge upon motivation in case of high interest (urban focus, inter/transdisciplinary approach, clarity of societal challenge)
  • We aim for a mix of senior/early career and of different disciplines

 

Welcome to fill out your application below. 

Please, complete your application by sending a motivation letter of max. 150 words and CV (in pdf and word) by email to Lisette.van_beek@svet.lu.se. 

Please note that travel and accommodation need to be arranged and paid for by participants.

Application

Experience with future studies
Availability on the dates in the program
The data you enter here will be processed by SLU to administer your registration or visit. Read more about the processing of personal data on www.slu.se/personal-data.

Facts

Time: 2025-09-16 - 2025-10-03
City: SLU Campus Alnarp
Organiser: SLU Urban Futures
Last signup date: 10 June 2025
Additional info:

For more information please contact Lisette.van_beek@svet.lu.se or nina.vogel@slu.se

 


Programme

The masterclass consists of the following five sessions over three different occasions this autumn at SLU Campus Alnarp. Make sure you are available.

Session #1 and #2:    
16-17 September 13:00-13:00 next day

Session #3 and #4:         
23-24 September 13:00-13:00 next day

Session #5:
3 October 13:00-19:00 (including dinner together)

 

  1. Why does the future matter?
    Introduction lecture to imaginaries, sociology of expectations and futures studies to better understand why the future ‘matters’, providing range of examples of how images of the future influence the present, such as the smart city. You will identify and critically interrogate dominant imaginaries in your own practice. Speaker: Lisette van Beek
  2. Techniques of Futuring: exploring diverse futures practices
    Lecture that introduces the Techniques of Futuring concept, giving examples of prominent techniques of futuring and how these could be analysed. You will learn about diverse techniques of futuring and will critically reflect upon techniques in your practice. Speaker: Lisette van Beek
  3. Experiential futures: storytelling, performative arts and speculative design Introduction to experiential approaches to futuring, most notably those rooted in artistic practice, such as speculative fiction, speculative design. Combined with hands-on activities in which you will experiment with different futures methods (games, carbon ruins module, soundwalk). Speaker: Johannes Stripple
  4. Demonstrating the future: showing what an alternative world might look like Discussing the powerful role of ‘prefigurative politics’: experimenting with alternative futures in the present to create new social norms and political meanings. You will critically interrogate real-world cases of grassroots initiatives and living labs and identify initiatives in their own professional practice. Speakers: tbd
  5. Closing session
    You will learn how to design your own ‘futuring intervention’ and present it to others in the final session. This futuring intervention will help you to apply futures methods to your own practice and think critically about why, for whom and how you engage people in the future.

Related pages:

Contact

Nina Vogel, Programme Director of SLU Urban Futures and Researcher at SLU affiliated to the Governance and Management theme group at the Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, SLU Alnarp

E-mail: nina.vogel@slu.se
Phone: +46 727 044 064

SLU Urban Futures
urbanfutures@slu.se
www.slu.se/urbanfutures

SLU Urban Futures Newsletter

Instagram page

LinkedIn page 

YouTube Channel

SLU Play Channel

www.urbanscapes.slu.se

SLU Alnarp
SLU Urban Futures
Enheten för samverkan och utveckling
Box 190
234 22 Lomma