Roisin Markham

I’m buzzed after sitting with How do we create futures worth living into? as a fundamental self directed research question (2019-2025) I’m ready to bring my version of this to the world. It’s the accumulation of sitting in the unknown… weaving, thinking, making, unlearning. The question shifted the end of last year to a statement – it was subtle:

Creating Futures worth living into

Roisin Markham

I’d been grappling with not being a mini-clone of someone else’s work. I’ve leaned into the permaculture principle of reducing novelty. As a creative person that can be challenging. As an enviromental activist it’s not.

Developing BDT Futures Lab and really responding to this moment feels significant.

We, me and some brilliant associates, more on that & them as we go, we are unflattening the narrative of the future.

BDT Innovation Services is offering explorations and structures to pop! those stories and create NEW SOCIAL IMAGINARIES together. Creating spaces where we unflatten it… I could talk about my refrences or show you so here is part of the visual refrence board – the whiteboard is much more octupus like.

Imagination, creativity, making, connecting and playfulness are critical – think regenerative socities and drinkable waters, time travel, drawing, collective play, origami and zine making.

I have a secondary school I am testing with in April and a University I’m delivering with in September.

As I prototype and refine this offer, watching what young people do with the ideas, interventions, naming of narratives I aim to hand it to them as tools for their futures. Creating new social imaginaries, reclaiming their futures through connected making, playful interaction with learning through experiential and participatory practice across a wellbeing economy. Care at the core and the earth back in balance, humans part of the ecosystem and deeply interconnected in the web of life.

My illustration gives a flavour of where the Futures Lab is going with this first offer!

Structured in a modular way depending on the group, their needs and where they currently are in their lives. Some workshops are stand alone others are scaffolding that link and build depth.

Let me know what makes you curious here….

If there is a youth service liaison person, school, university or career guidance councilor, or service outside of our educational institutions supporting young people that this would be useful for introduce us to each other or tag them in my Linkedin post.

I’m excited to bring this prototype out into the world, it’s ready, this is just the beginning – you in?