As part of the Festival of Futures we will be organising satellite events and workshops during February and March 2024.

If you would like more information about the events, or wish to speak with the organisers, please contact us.

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Fan studies and design are both relatively young disciplines, and ones which are familiar with interdisciplinarity, and with co-production and participation. Many fans take part in activities which might be considered design; from production of creative outputs such as fanvids and fanart, to community-led projects for activism, and creating platforms such as Archive of Our Own. 

The purpose of this symposium is to bring together fan studies scholars and design researchers to discuss where new exciting research may emerge at the intersection of these two areas. We invite those who work in fan studies, and those who work in design research, or those who are already working between these areas. This joint expertise is not required, only a curiosity about one or both areas.

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The Dark Skies Luminous Nights project (led by the University of Lancaster) explores aspects around light and dark and all the shades in between. Join us at RSPB Leighton Moss to learn more!

We are inviting you to participate in a free workshop (funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council) either on the 2nd or 3rd of March (3.15pm–6.30pm). The event will be led by artist and designer Dr Rupert Griffiths, astronomer Dr Hannah Dalgleish, and ceramic artist Kath McDonald from King Street Arts in Lancaster.

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A Placemaking event aimed at commemorating our collective accomplishments and fostering the generation of sustainable policies that will contribute to significant improvements for Lancaster District. The event will feature a screening of a portion of the RTPI documentary on sustainability, as well as a prelaunch of the “Placemaking with Young Adults” short film. Following these presentations, attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy a networking lunch and participate in a guided Placemaking Toured Walk around Lancaster University.

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In 2023 we established a Design Pedagogy and Generative AI working group (affectionately known as DPxGAI) to consider the impact of generative AI and they produced this whitepaper to help inform our strategy. Right now, at the midpoint of the first full academic year since the infamous ChatGPT was released, seems like an apt time to expand the conversation.

The focus of the afternoon will be on sharing how our AI plans are playing out and what has changed, and asking what the experiences of colleagues at other institutions are.

While the issues are big, we want this afternoon to be a relaxed and informal space to share insights about how AI is reshaping teaching, assessment, and research. We hope it will be an opportunity to share excitement, voice concerns, and satisfy our curiosities in a low-pressure setting.

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Digital twins are virtual representations of physical objects or systems that can provide valuable insights to improve design, operation and maintenance. In healthcare, digital twins hold great promise to revolutionize areas like monitoring patient health, optimizing care delivery, medical training, and more.

This half-day workshop brings together experts across academia and industry to explore the emerging role of design in leveraging digital twins to transform healthcare. Through presentations, breakout sessions and group discussions, we will examine key opportunities and challenges for design research and speculative design approaches to shape the responsible development and application of digital twin technologies in medicine and healthcare.

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The impact of design on our societies is undeniable. Design is everywhere, and seemingly everything has been designed. Design has often been associated with the reproduction of oppression, furthering the ends of capitalism, and contributing to the climate emergency we are facing. However, design is rooted in critical and reflective traditions (Van Toorn, 1994), which, when used correctly, can positively impact our societies and the planet. Social Design brings to focus this perspective to design practice. Social Design can remind us that design can be practised as a means to reduce social inequalities by working actively with our communities, to tackle the climate emergency by revisiting forms of production and traditional practices, and to improve the quality of life of those in need.

The Social Design Special Interest Group (SIG) at ImaginationLancaster is pleased to invite you to a full-day symposium to discuss the importance of design in social contexts. The symposium will bring together academics and practitioners seeking to use design to generate social good. We will discuss the role of design in promoting social justice and the practice of design in social contexts and draw together a future social agenda for design.