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Design Field
Research Strand

‘You can fit the tools you need to make a stone beam in a suitcase’

Over 30% of global carbon emissions are produced by construction. To meet national and international climate targets, the UK therefore needs to radically rethink the materials with which it builds.
 
Leilah Hirson-Comley

‘Housing is one area where individuals can take meaningful action’

Facilitating the adoption of domestic retrofitting in Canterbury and East Kent is a Design Accelerator led by the University for the Creative Arts. Our coordinator Leilah Hirson-Comley spoke with
 
Leilah Hirson-Comley

Redefining the problems, reframing the questions

The following conversation sees Future Observatory’s curatorial director, Cher Potter, in discussion with the 2022/23 cohort of Design Researchers in Residence on the topic of design research.
 
Cher Potter

‘If we care about the planet, we should care about pigeons’

Ahead of the opening of the Design Researchers in Residence’ exhibition at the Design Museum in late-June, our coordinator Leilah Hirson-Comley caught up with resident James Peplow Powell.
 
Leilah Hirson-Comley

‘Games are well suited for tackling complex problems’

Game Changing, a Design Accelerator led by Swansea University, explores the potential of co-designing games for increasing understanding of climate change.
 
Leilah Hirson-Comley

Report: Green Transition Ecosystems townhall

On Tuesday 31 January, we were delighted to welcome a host of design researchers, business entrepreneurs and higher education institution representatives to the Green Transition Ecosystems (GTE)
 
Author: Leilah Hirson-Comley

Funding opportunity: Green Transition Ecosystems

Capitalising on clusters of design excellence, Green Transition Ecosystems (GTEs) are large scale projects that focus on translating the best design-led research into real-world benefits. GTEs will
 

Now Hiring: Managing Editor

We are looking for a freelance Managing Editor with strategic and operational leadership experience to support the launch of the Future Observatory journal.
 

Adapting Together

Adapting Together, last week’s symposium organised by Future Observatory and ImaginationLancaster, set out to consider how designers can create and support participation in climate action.
 
Author: George Kafka

Join the Future Observatory Research Steering Group

Future Observatory is looking for senior researchers, academics and design professionals to join our Research Steering Group.
 

Join the Team

As we work to deliver our expanded three-year Future Observatory: Design the Green Transition programme, we are looking to recruit four exciting new roles to join our dynamic and friendly team.
 

Restore: Material Mapping

Restore: Material Mapping attempts to make visible some of the journeys of the materials used in Design Researchers in Residence: Restore.
 
Author: Leyla Salih

The Museum as a Catalyst

Museums are changing. They can be catalysts, proactively supporting a just and sustainable future.
 
Author: Justin McGuirk

‘They transformed in front of us’

The Design Exchange Partnerships are fifteen AHRC-funded research projects integral to the Future Observatory programme. Each funded project brings researchers into collaboration with non-academic
 
Leyla Salih