The Urban Futures Studio explores sustainable and meaningfully democratic futures, and ways to get there. We investigate what we call ‘futuring’ - the social creation of the (imagined) futures that direct collective action. As a transdisciplinary institute, we collaborate with policymakers, activists, artists, and students to enable alternative futures.

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    • Thinking from the north

      Opinion
      I just returned from a train trip up north with my partner and two-year-old daughter. Specifically, to Kiruna and Abisko in Sweden. Partly, I wanted to meet one of Europe’s peripheries and, in so doing, better understand its centres. Most of all, I hoped to engage with the Sami, the EU’s only recognised indigenous group. I was sorely disappointed.
    • Turning the classroom into a social movement?

      Background
      Between November 2023 and January 2024, the Urban Futures Studio turned its’ annual Mixed Classroom into a fictive social movement. What can we learn from this experiment?
    • Notes on the utopian classroom

      Opinion
      Having spent much of my life in classrooms — as student or teacher, I have seen that learning goals and content only go so far. We must fundamentally reimagine the form of the classroom. Here I share my recent experiment in creating a utopian classroom.
    • Post fossil freedom

      Opinion
      Freedom remains one of the most evocative political rallying cries around the world. It is central to the notion of humanitarian intervention, which has dragged Western nations into war since the 18th century. It was successfully mobilised to found the welfare state. And it is now a buzzword for the nativists being swept to power across the world…Even if the urge for freedom speaks to something deep within us, what it means changes from place to place, and from one generation to the next. Both lessons are crucial for those wishing to mobilise environmental action. Those who write the book of freedom gain huge political rewards.
    • An experiment in musical dreaming

      Opinion
      When offered the chance to perform a live musical opening for the 14th International Sustainability Transitions Conference, Josie Chambers, Steve Williams & Noor Noor sought to connect emotionally to where we are with sustainability transitions, yet also offer a glimpse of what could be. In this first blog they explore the question: can music deepen our reflection and imagination in global spaces?
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    • 8 - 12 Jul

      Futuring for Sustainability Summer school 2024

      to
      From 8-12 July 2024 the Urban Futures Studio hosts its annual 'Futuring for Sustainability' summer school in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Master- or PhD students can apply until 15 April 2024.
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