How to give shape to hopes, fears, ideologies around technological inventions and make them tangible enough to compare and discuss? The work was based on five future scenarios developed by think tank Stichting Toekomstbeeld der Techniek. Working in groups, the students designed an artifact with an accompanying world around it. Ants take on a whole new role as guides through the natural environment and as seed dispersers. Autonomous, nomadic farm robots grow vegetables while roaming the land. Using wearables, humans live in symbiosis with all kinds of microorganisms.

In the second year of the collaboration (2025) students were given the framework of “water justice”, but with no predefined scenarios. Instead, they began with their own research into places where water plays a central role. Based on their findings, they developed their own future scenarios in response to the brief: Whether scarcity or abundance, our relation to water is rapidly changing. Which (technological) strategies will life on Earth develop to cope with this fluctuating availability of water? 

From farmers whose work becomes completely scheduled around the tides, to autonomous rock robots in Iceland that embody the warning voice of nature, or rivers that deserve to retire from being polluted: The students succeeded in bringing new relations to water and the environment to life, rather than only designing technical interventions.

In this collaboration, we explored how research, foresight and speculative design can reinforce each other. By making possible futures tangible, the students reveal hidden values and perspectives. Through their choice of materials, design decisions, and visual storytelling, they offer new starting points for reflecting on our relationship with nature and technology. Each speculative artifact thus serves as an invitation to collectively explore the futures we can imagine, and those we are willing to make real.

During this course, the students honed their critical thinking skills in understanding technology and innovation as a result of socio-political climate. Furthermore, they developed their storytelling skills and how to use speculation as a tool to design for discourse.