Speculative Futures Rotterdam: Rise of sustainable citiesSpeculative Futures Rotterdam: Rise of sustainable cities

More and more people all over the world move into urban areas with hope for better career options and more exciting lifestyle. Unfortunately, amenities that allow for comfortable modern lifestyle, have a negative impact on the environment. Currently, cities are responsible for more than ⅔ of all carbon dioxide emissions. The emissions could double within the next 30 years if no new solutions are applied.

In order to mitigate climate changes, cities all over the world are forced to drastically reduce their greenhouse emissions. Experts found that by mid-century, with the use of currently existing technology, the emissions produced in the urban areas can be reduced by almost 90%. The challenge that all cities and their citizens need to face in the upcoming years, is a starting point for a discussion about the necessary changes in lifestyle we all need to adopt.

In the course of the workshop, participants will be invited to explore the future of mid-century sustainable cities. Although, the quality of life for future generations will be a result of our actions today, not everybody is able to see the size of current ecological challenges and their consequences. Together we will think on how the life of citizens in 2050 may look like if their welfare will be directly dependent on their level of engagement in sustainable development.

This is the premiere workshop from the series of events Speculative Futures Rotterdam, part of the global organization The Design Futures Initiative. Speculative Futures is an international community of meetups focused on Speculative & Critical Design, Design Fiction, Futurism, and Strategy & Foresight and any vision or approach which involves using design as a vehicle to speculate about potential or alternate futures. Speculative Futures is an effort steered by the Design Futures Initiative.

Regina Schröter focuses on designing meaningful interactions between humans and the non-human. She first moved to Amsterdam to intern at Mediamatic, after which she worked at Pop-Up City, an agency for urban transformation. As cities are becoming an increasing part of human habitat and breeding grounds for societal and environmental challenges, Regina decided to pursue a Masters in Urban Futures in Berlin. There, she explored sustainable behaviours, rituals and interactions with our spatial surroundings. Currently, Regina researches urban trends and is based in Amsterdam.

Before the Thursday Night you can grab a bite to eat with the speakers and staff of Het Nieuwe Instituut. At 18:00 Het Nieuwe Café will a light vegetarian meal. Dinner vouchers are available for ¬ 7.70 up to a day before the particular Thursday Night event via the Tickets link.

Become a Member of Het Nieuwe Instituut and you'll support our mission to navigate the vast and evolving field of design. You'll also be inspired by our special program of Members' events, meeting up with other like-minded people as we invite you to reflect with us on design's changing role in technology, economics, culture and society.