Training for urban future-making through playful practices

Conference: Questioning Urban Future-Making in the Times of Disrupture, workshop organized by the Urban Futures at Risk research group, Georg-Simmel Center for Metropolitan Studies, Humboldt University of Berlin, 5–7 December 2023

The presentation tackled citizens’ lack of interest in formalized participation and discussed playful practices as ‘training grounds’ for collaborative future-making. Playful practices produced committed citizen engagement for the arts project ‘We Would Be Here’ based on Christian Kracht’s alternative history novel I Will Be Here in Sunshine and in Shadow. I presented the invitation to co-design everyday future scenarios within this site-specific game system by means of speculation and role-play. Sharing observations from this example, I tentatively listed a number of game-specific aspects that potentially could serve as training for collaborative future-making.

More information
https://www.gsz.hu-berlin.de/de/en/gsz/urban-futures-at-risk-research-group