About this project

An overview of the 2020/21 Collaborative Futures project undertaken between the Product Design Department at The Glasgow School of Art and the Centre for Civic Innovation, Glasgow City Council with project leads, Kirsty Ross, Stevie McGowan and Dr Marianne McAra.

This project brought together a team of designers, final year design students and graduate designers, civic and academic stakeholders from the GSA Innovation School’s Master of European Design programme and the Centre For Civic Innovation at Glasgow City Council to collaboratively explore Glasgow’s future stories from a human-centred and place-based perspective. 

In the Post Covid-19 world, the council needs to plan for the socio-economic challenges ahead, and ensure services are developed with, rather than for, citizens, their communities and the places they inhabit, to ensure they are fit for the 21st century. 

So, what might a more porous, participatory future Glasgow look like in 2030, who might the citizens who inhabit it be? Where, and how, do their lives play out – how does design, data and innovation influence, involve and empower them and what might they need in terms of future products, services and experiences, and why?

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Process

Project Launch Event

September 22nd
The project was launched remotely and online. The GSA team met with their project partners from the Centre of Civic Innovation (CCI) alongside external experts from Glasgow City Council (GCC).

Expert Input and Research Review

12–16th October
The GSA x CCI team synthesised their initial findings into research cards. Expert input was offered by Glasgow City Council and researchers from the GSA Innovation School to discuss current research of place-based and human-centred participatory democracy.

Synthesis and Futures Thinking Workshops with Studio Andthen

19th–23rd October
Futures Thinking consultancy Andthen worked with the project team to extrapolate their research findings into future scenarios using a forecasting methodology.

Future World Building Workshops with Studio Andthen

3rd–6th November
Studio Andthen hosted complimentary workshops to guide the project team through future world building, using their forecasted scenarios.

‘Networks of Care’ Citizen Engagement Workshops

3rd December
With members of the public, these workshops explored visions of the Future of Glasgow based on the idea of trust and care: a space where citizens, communities and systems around them can make decisions together to support each other.

‘Networks of Care’ Expert Engagement Workshops

4th–10th December
With experts from Glasgow City Council, these workshops explored professional experiences of feeling supported in work and by the roles of colleagues, professional communities or other organisations during the past 6 months. Together we modelled professional ‘Networks of Trust and Care’ and reflected upon how roles might change between now and 2030, and what actions might be taken in order to support Systems of Care and Trust.

Engagement Co-design Session

8th December
During this session, CWIN offered feedback on how our design team could make the process and engagement methods work best and in the most accessible way for diverse communities.

Final Presentation and Handover to the Centre for Civic Innovation and wider Glasgow City Council

22nd January
A series of events with the internal Centre of Civic Innovation partners and wider stakeholders from Glasgow City Council to disseminate the work.

Project Partner

Centre For Civic Innovation, Glasgow City Council

CCI is a pioneering citizen-centred design team within GCC, responsible for establishing a design-led approach to the understanding of societal shifts and civic experiences within the city. They are developing and inspiring a network of designers and solvers across the breadth of the city to enthuse and empower citizens to co-design the city they want to live in.

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Project Leads:

Stevie McGowan, (Partner Lead. Creative Design Lead, Centre For Civic Innovation, Glasgow City Council), Kirsty Ross, (Academic Lead. Lecturer in Product Design, GSA Innovation School), Dr Marianne McAra, (Project Researcher. Creative Engagement Research Fellow, GSA Innovation School)

Project Team:

Pauline Barbier, MEDes final year student
Neal Cameron, MEDes final year student
Heather Hamilton, Design Research / Service Design (CCI)
Chris Jamieson, Designer, Centre For Civic Innovation
Stanislaw MacLeod, MEDes final year student
Mafalda Moreaud, GSA Graduate Designer
Edoardo Piroddi, MEDes final year student
Zsofia Szonja, GSA Graduate Designer

Project Contributors:

We would also like to thank all of the participants from our expert and citizen engagement sessions and workshops, as well as the following individuals and organisations for their invaluable contributions to our project:

Centre for Civic Innovation, Glasgow City Council

John Campbell, Innovation Lead, Centre For Civic Innovation
Euan McGlynn, Storyteller, Centre For Civic Innovation
Marie McLelland, Economic Development Officer, Glasgow City Council
Guy Wells, Data Scientist, Centre For Civic Innovation

GSA Innovation School

Dr Cara Broadley, Research Fellow in Public Services, Wellbeing and Equality
Kaitlyn DeBiasse, Lecturer in Product Design
Dr Michael Johnson, Creative Economy Innovation Leadership Fellow
Dr Janet Kelly, Lecturer in Product Design
Dr Mafalda Moreira, Lecturer in Research Methods
Zoe Prosser, Lecturer in Social Design

With thanks to:

Prof. Brian Evans, Glasgow’s City Urbanist, Professor of Urbanism and Landscape at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art
Santini Basra, Founding Director, AndThen
Freyja Harris, Designer and Researcher, AndThen
Harriet Simms, Community Engagement Officer, Glasgow School of Art
Central West Integration Network
Lateral North