Futures Lab

The Futures Lab is a forum for interdisciplinary explorations of future research questions and societal challenges.

Research with future perspectives

The Futures Lab was initiated in 2019 by the two future platforms SLU Urban Futures and SLU Future Food. The lab has its thematic focus where the subject areas of these two platforms meet: sustainable urban development and a sustainable food system.

The Futures Lab has arranged a number of different projects and activities over the years. In 2020, an interdisciplinary research group had the chance to immerse themselves in future studies and future perspectives. In 2022, a webinar series was arranged. Today the lab continues to develop and welcomes ideas and feedback.

Webinars on Future Studies

The Future Lab 2022 consisted of an open webinar series focused on future studies. The organizers were SLU Urban Futures, SLU Future Food and the participants in the Future Lab 2020.

Urban Take-Aways: The Futures Lab

Urban Take-Aways is a film series where we meet researchers and practitioners from various disciplines and fields, who share insights from inspiring projects related to urban sustainability. In this film, we meet Josefin Wangel and the participants on the Futures Lab at SLU 2020.

Society for transformative conversations

Society for transformative conversations is a project lead in part by previous participants of the Futures Lab. The aim is to contribute to a more democratic communication by improving our ability to listen and to grasp the perspectives of others, as a way to a more sustainable society.

White and yellow feather on dark background, illustration.

The Futures Lab 2020

The overall purpose of the SLU Futures Lab 2020 was to strengthen the participants-, and by extension SLU’s, ability to apply a future perspective to research. The lab was also expected to contribute to new research questions and meetings across disciplines.