Design Research for Uncertain Futures

Design Research for Uncertain Futures assembles a diverse group of thinkers and makers, and thinking-through-makers, to situate design research as a form of knowledge generation that is complementary to science, and especially needed now, given changing climates and uncertain futures.

Our model of design research envisions a distinct and powerful role for design researchers to work confidently with uncertainty and to skillfully negotiate contested futures as part of creating more equitable and resilient worlds. Using the tools of design research, knowledge is built through an iterative process of questioning, probing, proposing, building, testing, analyzing and revising. The climate crises that are challenging our collective survival demands—indeed, provokes—bold partnerships among the curious and committed to align creativity, analytic rigor and the plurality of values in the broader contexts of uncertainty and experimentation.