Sixteen pieces of work were submitted, and fourteen judges assisted with each piece being graded by three judges.
Judges for year 2024: Josh Calder, Sam Miller, Sabine Lehman, Verne Wheelwright, Maggie Greyson, Jim Burke, Paul Tero, Zabrina Epps, Terry Grim, Tim Morgan, Tim Mack, Barbara Bok, John Sweeney, and Jim Breaux.
Abstract
This essay draws from extensive regenerative futures research to provide eight principles for thinking and practice. Existing regenerative fields, including regenerative development, differ from prevailing approaches to sustainability in that they move beyond harm mitigation as an aspirational objective, instead seeking to achieve net positive benefits for integrated natural and social systems. Futures and strategic foresight methods can deepen regenerative approaches both conceptually and in practice. This article draws from a range of qualitive research methods that have explored these regenerative futures concepts, including Causal Layered Analysis, case studies and semi-structured interviews. It distils this research into eight guiding principles that provide a framework for transformation whilst also recognising that regenerative futures are context specific and unique to place.
Abstract
Metafictional postmodern texts surface multiple ontologies of the transitional self in layered and intersecting narrative expressions of authorship. A trans capability functioning in the virtuality of fiction demonstrates that a perpetual state of becoming can be envisaged when realist assumptions are dissolved in favour of pluralised narrative extrapolations. Transrealist narrative movements develop the permeability of fictive frames which permit authorial presence and expression in the text. Concurrently, a queering of identity narratives has emerged as a viable aesthetic that enables multiple inclusive dimensions for identity constructs, fostering a transilient capability when navigating fictive worlds. Contemporary audiences evince an appetite for queer transitory identity and narrative permutations with a fluid performative facility that works in a feedback loop between fiction and reality. This media-literate knowingness advances an emergent application of fictive transilience into a real-world lived experience for an agency in the transmodern era.
Introduction
For centuries, museums—many of which house collections sourced from all over the world, in purpose-built environments—have been associated with power, permanence, knowledge, and reach.
From the Industrial Era onward, Western museums also became a place to educate the public and share the benefits of empire.
Today, some museums retain those connotations, even as those foundational concepts complicate and fracture around them. Museums as a body are changing as the world changes; the old definition of a “museum” is stretching.
This project explores the medium- and long-term futures of the British Museum, the original “Museum of the World,” in an environment of changing social expectations around the ownership and display of artifacts; technological developments; climate change and its sequelae; changes to Western predominance; and shifting public needs and realities.
Introduction & context
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Increased concern over disinformation given its material impact on the ability of societies and governments to effectively co-create and implement collective responses to global issues
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The increased adoption of social media platforms and technology to communicate and share information has enabled disinformation to be spread more easily, widely and quickly (Southwell et al., 2018)
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Regulation of disinformation generation and sharing is difficult - companies like Meta have near-monopolies over how media is shared and can significant leverage against government interference (Pickard et al., 2020); regulations are also complicated by discussions over individual freedom of speech and expression (Pielemeier, 2020) and debating whether
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regulating content is aligned a democratic society (Tan & Sijie, 2020)
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With disinformation supply difficult to regulate, some researchers have turned their attention to understanding how individuals and communities can become more resilient to disinformation
Introduction
Tourism in South Africa is regarded as a key sector for driving GDP growth and creating employment opportunities for unskilled and semi-skilled citizens. The current ruling party of the African National Congress (ANC) has placed tourism as one of its key pillars in the Economic Recovery Plan with ambitions of achieving 19 million arrivals and creating 2 million jobs by 2030 (NEDLAC, 2020b, 2020a; South African Government, 2022). The attractiveness of South Africa’s tourism offerings has relied
heavily on typical sea, sun, sand, and wildlife destinations, however heritage tourism, as a niche tourism segment, is emerging as the fastest-growing segment desired by travellers globally (Viljoen & Sonwabile Henama, 2017).
Dark tourism (DT), a subset of heritage tourism, has emerged in popular culture, attracting visitors to attractions and sites associated with suffering, tragedy, death, disaster, crime, and atrocity. Popular mainstream DT sites include the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, Chernobyl in Ukraine, and the 9/11 memorial site in the United States. However, there is no easily distinguishable divide between DT and heritage tourism, and the motivations seem varied in the pursuits of novelty, entertainment, pilgrimage, curiosity, and nostalgia. There is, however, a spectrum of darkness. At the darkest end are actual sites of death and suffering, and the lightest end is most tourism offerings linked with entertainment (Kennell & Powell, 2020). In South Africa, DT sites could range from dark sites such as Robben Island as a political prison site, to lighter more symbolic museums and statues (Hartmann et al., 2018; Light, 2017a; Proos & Hattingh, 2020, 2022; Stone et al., 2018). If difficult and traumatic heritage is the demonstration and construction of that tragic past, then dark tourism is the consumption and experience of that history (Hartmann et al., 2018).
However, DT is a complex and often controversial topic that raises questions about the benefits of engaging with such dark, dissonant, dystopian views of history. Researchers argue that DT can also have a profound, transformative, emotional, and cognitive affect on individuals, challenging existing beliefs, stimulating new insights and potentially foster social cohesion through collective shared experiences (Viljoen & Sonwabile Henama, 2017). Ethical concerns arise when promoting content that attracts sensationalist attention, the risk of exploiting and commercializing tragic sites and their victims (Light, 2017a).
The aim of this paper is to explore potential futures of DT in South Africa by the year 2032.
About the project
The 2043 Master Plan Game is an artifact from the future that simulates a crowdsourcing platform where community members, engineers, architects and local government officials collaboratively iterate the (re)design of infrastructure and layout of climate-vulnerable communities.
The project addresses increasingly negative effects of climate change and encourages a collective reimagination of built environments with respect to resilience, community needs, and environmental impact. It addresses the systemic nature of responding to climate change, incorporating social, technological, environmental, economic, and political challenges into the final product.
Recommendations for the client included elevating and prioritizing community voices and needs, leveraging engineering knowledge of innovative materials, and collaborating effectively with all stakeholders.
About the project
In addressing Canada's housing crisis in Nunavut, we explored future housing possibilities through extensive secondary research. Acknowledging our limitations, especially the absence of primary research, we approached this work with humility and respect for Indigenous cultures and knowledge systems.
We recognize the challenges in providing insights into a community's housing needs without direct lived experience. We are deeply concerned about the housing situation in Indigenous communities and feel compelled to highlight this critical issue. The current state of housing in the Arctic has profound impacts, challenging the national narrative of Indigenous reconciliation. Thus, we have committed to proceeding with sensitivity, openness, and a willingness to listen and learn.
Our goal is to facilitate dialogue that highlights Indigenous needs and voices, using foresight and design thinking for collaboration. By inviting stakeholders to imagine possibilities that honor cultural values, traditions, and future visions—while considering current social, technological, economic, environmental, political, and legal trends—we aim to support and advocate for these visions. Our objective is to define culturally relevant and resilient housing.
This work contributes to a future where housing in Canada’s Arctic aligns with the mandate of housing as a human right and considers culturally informed and resilient architecture.
About the project
As a team embarking upon a project exploring the future of wildlife conservation in Nunavut, we openly acknowledge that we are not Inuit and outsiders to northern communities, which brings limitations and responsibilities. This position inherently shapes our perspective and the way we approach our work. We understand that this disconnect may influence our interpretation and that we must strive to avoid projecting our biases onto the community and their experiences, both in the present and future.