The research center Futures through Design deploys design as a creative, investigative, participatory and solution-oriented process to increase the resilience of society, while initiating and guiding the transition to a sustainable future.
We focus on challenges at the intersection of three research domains:
- co-design: by actively involving end users we increase the participatory and emancipatory power of design
- conservation through development: we focus on the reinterpretation and actualisation of heritage, such as historic estates and traditional crafts
- socio-ecological systems: we start from the intertwining of natural and cultural processes, and the relationship of both human and non-human actors to each other and their environment.
By tackling concrete challenges in a multi- and transdisciplinary way, we not only want to provide future-oriented solutions that avoid negative impact and maximize positive impact. In doing so, sustainable innovation of our human environment is paramount, both in material terms and in terms of behavior and value patterns, with an overarching focus on increasing quality of life.
Contact.
Futures through Design brings together researchers with very diverse backgrounds, from landscape and garden architecture, interior design, geography and biology, to product development, philosophy, and digital design and development.
Do you have a specific question or would you like to work with us? Contact the research centre at futures@hogent.be.