Exploring the potential of controversies for creativity

***Places are limited, please register via this link to secure your spot and receive your warm-up package!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf9q6Y11Ygv06Caz70XIq9z6XB4MCzS6dFBRYDQqo5RqiTvtw/viewform?usp=sf_link ***

Dear community,

To begin 2021 with renewed energy and inspiration, we kick-off with our next interactive, online event on Tuesday, January 19th. During this evening, we will explore the potential of controversies for creativity – something that can surely equip us to shape futures in current stormy times.

about the topic
Controversy, conflict, dilemma: words, events and situations we rather avoid. They often make us uncomfortable because they represent a tension that occurs because of ill-matching value-systems, opposing desires, different needs, and more. From the distribution of the corona vaccine, to the US election results, to fireworks debate surrounding new year’s eve; these are some examples of controversies and tensions we see everyday in our lives.

With this event, we would like to bring attention to the power of controversies, conflicts, and dilemmas to shape our futures. It is exactly the clash of opposing values, that brings to surface what is at stake, and what deserves more attention. In that sense, we should not avoid conflict, but we should explore its potential to uncover previously tacit and implicit values, and to stimulate creative approaches to tackle issues at hand.

Those who joined our previous event on ‘Moral engagement in Design’ with dr. Deger Ozkaramanli and dr. Michael Nagenborg, might recognize the relation to step 4 of their considerations: ‘deal with conflicts/tensions/dilemmas typical of moral challenges’. Please, join us if you were inspired by the previous discussion and would like to learn more!
For those who missed the talk of dr. Ozkaramanli and dr. Nagenborg, no worries! This will be a standalone workshop with any prerequisite knowledge, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts!

about the event
We will start the night with a brief introductory talk, as a warm-up for the topic. The rest of the night will consist of an interactive workshop, in which we invite you to dissect all layers, elements and relations of a controversy. We invite you to reflect on how embracing controversies can help us to think critically and creatively about the future ahead of us.

In this session, we will focus on smart city controversies. The impact of technology on our lives and society makes them an interesting breeding ground for debate and reflection. We have prepared a role-playing exercise, that takes place in the newly announced smart city ‘NeverTire’. For a smooth progress of the event, we will divide stakeholder roles beforehand. We kindly invite you to spare 10 minutes before the event, to read through the pre-read materials we have prepared for you. To receive these materials, register via the link below.

We organized this workshop during the summer at the Design Research Society 2020 conference, if you would like to read about our reflections there, have a look at the following item:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/controversies-reflect-critically-creatively-smart-matos-casta%25C3%25B1o/?trackingId=9aYMewE0TridvBYaLGovPA%3D%3D

Important
Do not forget to register via the link below as your registration is necessary for us to divide the stakeholder perspectives.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf9q6Y11Ygv06Caz70XIq9z6XB4MCzS6dFBRYDQqo5RqiTvtw/viewform?usp=sf_link

We look forward to seeing you again on January 19th!