Co-designing Sustainable Desirable Futures - A critical approach to participatory degrowth futuring
Authors
Nielsen, Birgitte Brander Hessellund ; Ødum, Frederikke Kusk ; Montaner Neffar, Adrián
Term
4. Term
Education
Publication year
2026
Submitted on
2026-06-04
Pages
58
Abstract
This thesis explores a third path between narratives of green growth and total collapse: sustainable, desirable futures grounded in degrowth. In collaboration with the activist consultancy cirka cph and its Political Ecology and Degrowth for Youth project, we ask: How can sustainable, desirable future scenarios be co-designed to support democratic futuring? Building on a literature review, we combine Critical Futures Studies with design futuring to design and run a public workshop at Aalborg University Copenhagen. Using four degrowth scenarios as a starting point, non-expert participants co-designed scenario expansions by immersing themselves in utopian imaginaries to deconstruct and reconstruct assumptions about the future. Our analysis highlights present-day biases—such as the invisibility of care work—that constrain imagining degrowth futures; identifies variables that shape creative co-design in group settings; and shows the strong influence of visuals and the enabling role of materials in facilitating inclusive, democratic discussion. Based on these insights, we redesign the workshop format and materials with the intent to make them publicly available, supporting wider civil-society engagement with degrowth.
Dette speciale undersøger en tredje vej mellem fortællinger om grønt vækstspor og total kollaps: bæredygtige, ønskværdige fremtider forankret i afvækst. I samarbejde med cirka cph og projektet Political Ecology and Degrowth for Youth stiller vi spørgsmålet: Hvordan kan bæredygtige, ønskværdige fremtidsscenarier samskabes for at understøtte demokratisk futuring? Med udgangspunkt i en litteraturgennemgang kombinerer vi Critical Futures Studies og design-futuring og udvikler samt afholder en offentlig workshop på Aalborg Universitet København. Fire afvækstscenarier fungerede som afsæt, og ikke-eksperter samskabte udvidelser af disse ved at fordybe sig i utopiske forestillinger for at de- og rekonstruere antagelser om fremtiden. Analysen peger på nutidige bias – såsom usynliggørelsen af omsorgsarbejde – der hæmmer forestillingen om afvækstfremtider; den identificerer faktorer, der former kreativ samskabelse i grupper; og den viser, at visuelle virkemidler og materialer har stor betydning for at facilitere inkluderende, demokratiske drøftelser. På baggrund af disse indsigter redesigner vi workshopformat og materialer med henblik på at gøre dem offentligt tilgængelige og dermed støtte civilsamfundets arbejde med afvækst.
[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]