“If ever there was a time to consider alternative ways of building a future, it is now. What we do this decade will shape the rest of the century. But what if, rather than fetishising innovation, what we really need is new ways of thinking, new frameworks, new narratives?”
Today the Future Observatory team and I are proud to bring you the first issue of Future Observatory Journal, a biannual online publication that will publish new research, new forms of practice and, crucially, new narratives from designers working towards a liveable future.
The first issue, published on a bespoke website designed by our collaborators Studio Airport, is focused on bioregioning, a consistent topic of conversation with researchers in our portfolio since Future Observatory was established in 2021. The issue features essays, case studies, interviews, critical analysis and striking photography from Kagoshima to the Cauca Valley, and contributions from writers and designers such as Arturo Escobar, Donella Meadows, Justinien Tribillion, Sharon Prendeville and FO's own Cher Potter.
Before you dive into the issue, a brief word about the way Future Observatory Journal is structured. We open with a Forecast that presents an overview of the theme and that, hopefully, conjures an alternative future. The Practice section substantiates that worldview with case studies in design practice, as well as essays and interviews that offer a richer investigation of the theme. And we conclude with Strategy, in which we zoom out from the practice level to examine what would need to change at the systemic or policy level for bioregioning to become a more accepted and practicable future. That’s the sequential logic, but please read and enjoy the journal any way that suits you.
We can't wait to hear what you think of it – do get in touch to let us know.
