Beyond Speculative Design: Past – Present – Future

SpeculativeEdu (an educational project funded by ERASMUS+) was conceived at a crucial moment for speculative design and related practices. Whilst it is uplifting to see its popularity on the rise, it is in need of some redirection – away from the all-too-easy dystopian spectacles that shock or titillate but little beyond, and away from the obsession with (largely technological) futures. The question we’ve been asking over the past two years is: redirect to where? To address the question we – a group of educators and practitioners from institutions across Europe – have conducted more than 50 interviews, organised workshops, collected case studies, held conferences and discussions, gathered data and honed tools and approaches, with the aim of creating a clearer sense of purpose for ourselves and a clearer view of the field for anyone interested in speculative design, speculative design education and design education in general.