Without Words: Sensing the Future

DISCLAIMER
This event is an online workshop. It will be hosted via Zoom. The event will be held in English. The link to enter the meeting room will be sent out shortly before the event to all signed-up participants. While signing up, please provide your email address.

What to expect |
How can we express futures without relying on words? In the global discussion of how language might be dominating our senses, we have questioned the impact of heavy words on our ability to envision and perceive alternative futures. Our aim is to discover expanding methods for sensing and experiencing the future, bringing a fresh perspective to the field of foresight and futures literacy.

Our workshop draws inspiration from experiential futures, sign language, a female gaze, and sensorial digital assets, creating an immersive and interactive space where participants can explore futures free from the constraints of traditional language. By shifting our focus from verbal communication to embodying futures, we open ourselves to a wider range of senses, allowing for a more complete understanding of potential futures.

During the 1.5-hour online session, participants will embark on radical experiences that challenge conventional thinking and expand their sensory horizons. We will encourage them to see, feel, hear, maybe even smell and taste futures, uncovering the wealth of sensory information available to us. Afterwards, the facilitators will provide brief introductions, and participants will have the opportunity to share their own experiences and insights. The workshop will conclude with a collective reflection, allowing participants to solidify their learnings and explore practical applications of the alternative language and sensing methods discovered.

By challenging the dominance of words and embracing an embodied approach, our workshop aspires to push the boundaries of how we sense and connect with the future in futures literacy and foresight.

Note: In this session of "Without Words," we will be exploring the Futures of Addictions. We encourage you to bring different multisensory artifacts, such as your beverage of preference, essential oils, fabrics, food, lights, etc.

Our speakers |
Lena Tünkers is an independent curator and facilitator for experiences with speculative futures having worked across Europe, Kenya, Australia, and Mexico. Driven by a passion for the unconventional and the odd, she uses the approach of Futures Literacy in combination with Experience and Speculative Design to challenge rigid present beliefs. Besides, she is the upcoming president of the Foresight Europe Network and mentor for environmental start-ups of the EIT Community New European Bauhaus.

Abril Chimal currently serves as the Chief Pollinator for the Participatory Futures Global Swarm and as the Technical Editor for the Journal of Futures Studies. She is the winner of the Second Futures Research Grant from the Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Center for Futuristic Studies (PMFCFS) and the World Futures Studies Federation (WFSF) for her project titled 'Futures of Circular Economy in Mexico City.'

Event details |
Date: 23.11.2023, 6:30-8:30pm CET

Waiting rooms will be available via the Zoom link from 6:20pm CET
Sign up for this event with a valid account and provide your email address in case we need to send a new link due to unforeseeable circumstances during the event. You will receive the entry upon ticket confirmation. The link will only be opened on the time and date of the event. We ask you to enter the link with your full name so we are able to find you on the guest list.

This event is limited to 100 participants. We ask you to enter the waiting room on time (06:20 pm CET). If the maximum capacity for this event is reached, we are obliged to apply the ‘first come, first serve’-principle, regardless of when you signed up for the event.
We are looking forward to your participation!