Prototyping the Future of Food

Workshop
Thu, Oct. 29 2015 - 16:00 to 17:30
Room Artstübli

This workshop provides a space to explore the fundamental assumptions upon which the future of food is based.

  • What is and should be the role of technology in a matter that is deeply personal and emotional?
  • How can technology be used in the service of our needs and desires rather than the other way around?
  • How can we address the unintended consequences of technology use? Are we addressing the real needs of people when we are innovating?

Workshop participants will have the opportunity to explore their answers through developing their own version of the future of food. The products of a series of group activities will hopefully contribute to a new perspective of how technology and innovation can be framed in the context of food.

Workshop Program

Participants will be asked to draw what their own personal food systems and stories. This will be done through drawing and developing a "rich picture" of what their current perspective of what the food system is. (The method is the part of the soft systems methodology. We adapt the first step to that methodology here.)

After drawing this picture, they will be asked to share and discuss what they have produced.

Then the workshop participants will be given the question, "What would you like the future of food to be?"

The organisers will then guide the participants through a design thinking exercise to help them prototype this vision (empathise-ideate-prototype).

Finally, each group will share the prototypes and visions of the future. These visions will be the basis for a moderated group discussion regarding the role of technology for food in the future.