TROUBLING THE IMPACT OF FOOD FUTURE IMAGINARIES

Abstract

Global scale transformation is urgently required if we hope to stabilise socio-ecological systems. While design contributes to social and ecological un-sustainability, it can also play a pivotal role in bringing us towards more positive, inclusive ways of living and being within the planetary ecosystem. Experimental, co-creative design provides powerful tools for prompting critical thinking and inspiring new imaginaries. We engage with these possibilities, and explore their role in societal transition. We present an experimental food design workshop that aims to engender fantastical and plausible possibilities for regenerative (more-than- human) future food practices. We reflect on how to move from such imaginaries to ‘implementable nows’ that is, transformative innovations that might be enacted today. We provide inspiration and methodological guidance for designers interested in the social imaginaries brought forth through world-making efforts; leapfrogging the adjacent possible and reorienting situated practices towards better – socio-ecologically just – futures.