In an era of rapid change, designing for the future requires more than just reacting to trends. It demands the ability to anticipate, challenge, and shape possible futures. This workshop explores methodologies for future casting, enabling participants to analyze signals of change, develop strategic foresight, and prototype speculative scenarios.

Through an interdisciplinary lens, students will explore how to translate insights from emerging social, technological, and ecological shifts into actionable design strategies. The course encourages a proactive approach to uncertainty, helping designers and innovators create future-ready solutions that are ethical, adaptive, and resilient.

Prerequisites‍

Open to all skill levels—no previous knowledge or specific software is required.

How you’ll learn

This course follows CIID’s “learning by doing” philosophy, combining research, hands-on experimentation, and collaborative exercises. Participants will engage in speculative prototyping, interactive storytelling, and scenario-based design challenges to practice future-oriented thinking in real time. Through interactive workshops, group discussions, and expert insights, students will leave with practical tools to integrate future thinking into their design practice.

What you’ll learn

• How to identify and analyze trends, signals, and other weak indicators of change
• The fundamentals of strategic foresight and scenario planning and their use in designing under conditions of uncertainty
• How speculative design can be used to explore and communicate possible futures
• Methods for critically assessing the social, technological, and ecological impact of future innovations
• Techniques for applying foresight and futures thinking to real-world challenges

What to bring

• A notebook and a pen

• A laptop