HOW THE APPROACH WORKS

The approach provides a framework to work within our vision and principles. Responsible Futuring consists of iterative phases that allow for multiple methods to be applied, depending on the stakeholders we are working with. It is fundamental. Yet, it is flexible: it does not give you a recipe to work on, but it gives you coordinates to follow the responsible futuring path. Below the description of the phases and what happens in each one of them.

1.Connect & Relate

In this phase, it is essential to bring together stakeholders and enable their collaboration. The focus is on three aspects of transdisciplinary collaboration.

First, we engage with worldviews. We explore how each stakeholder makes sense of the world, their views on human-technology relationships, society, and innovation.

Second, we engage in and understand value dynamics. We identify the values that stakeholders find essential, how they conceptualise them, the actions they take to embed those values in practice.

Third, we develop common ground by finding a way to communicate and understand each other even when having different perspectives. It is a phase to nurture team building and engage with stakeholders’ views coming from various disciplines.

The main output is a shared understanding of the diversity of worldviews involved in the process, and a foundation to create aconcrete plan to connect expertise in the team.

2.Understand & Frame

The main goal of this phase is to have an in-depth understanding of the challenge, the context, and the stakeholders that are involved in it. It is about bringing together worldviews and perspectives and putting them in context to gain knowledge and develop a shared transdisciplinary frame. The focus is on two main aspects:

First, it relates to gaining an in-depth knowledge of the relevant facets of the challenge and thinking of the implications the challenge has on the future from different perspectives. In this phase, we define patterns, relationships, and themes.

Second, it is about bringing different conflicts or dilemmas to the surface, as well as complementarities and synergies among stakeholders.

The activity is geared to produce a coherent set of statements to think with and act from a techno-moral perspective. This means stimulating ethical reflection, and adopting different lenses to flesh out the broader implications of potential actions in the present.

3.Imagine & Ideate

It is the most generative phase of the approach. In this phase, the focus is on imagining futures and ideating them tangibly. Hence, transdisciplinary teams will engage in tangible futuring exercises to develop and reflect on potential futures.

These activities can involve:

• The development of scenarios to bring to life how future situations, issues and dynamics can be;

• Prototyping current and future values by imagining and making low-fi prototypes according to values and taking moral stances into account; and

• Ideating, evoking and provoking reflections through making by imagining and ideating speculatively to reflect about the implications of ideas.

The output of this phase is a set of tangible representations of futures and abstract concepts to enable reflection, collaboration, and action.

4.Reflect & Reframe

In this phase, the focus is on reflecting on the insights gained from the different phases of the Responsible Futuring approach, re-evaluating ideas, concepts and perspectives to inform the creation of a new frame. The focus is on adopting a reflective attitude to inform decision making and adapt our current practices.

The outcome is a set of reflections, guiding principles and concrete actions to bring the lessons from the futuring exercises back to the present.