Techniques of Futuring: A Mixed Classroom with Policymakers

Course goals

Please note: the information in the course manual is binding.

In this course you will learn to apply futuring and dramaturgy as methodological and political tools. This means you will:

• Learn to critically reflect on democracy, politics, and the future of our society;
• Understand and analyse captured futures - and how to rethink them;
• Learn to apply futuring methods to political and societal situations;
• Learn how to curate and organise events;
• Gain new insights into democracy, sustainability, and radical change
• Participate in practical exercises and field trips.

Content

The course can be completed for 5EC or 7,5EC. Please indicate your preference when submitting your letter of motivation to the course coordinator.
 
Starting November 2026 the Urban Futures Studio offers a mixed classroom course, a price winning form of academic education for ambitious master students in which you learn from and with societal actors such as policymakers, activists and artists.

Every year, this course zooms in on the pressing political and societal shifts that plague our radical age. In the course, we explore how political reality changes – and what we can do to safeguard a liveable future for all. That means that in this course, you will study how our collective capacity to imagine and act towards the future is deeply shaped by dramaturgy and discourse. The setting and form in which sustainability transitions are framed strongly influences if and how people change their perspectives on how the world is, should, and could be as well as the degree to which they experience engagement and agency. Who has the power to make their voice heard? How does political authority work? What are the structures that govern our world? And how can we make sense of all the rapid changes around us?

Mixing approaches drawing from theater, storytelling, design, and diverse conversation techniques with political science, sociology, and transitions studies, this course helps you analyze social change through a dramaturgical lens and explore the power of futuring and dramaturgy to foster alternatives. We aim to bring together collective knowledge, imagination, and action. The mixed classroom is both an elective Master course (5 ECTS/7.5 ECTS) for students and an interactive lecture series for policymakers and other practitioners. The course will offer a mix of (guest) lectures, workshops, discussions, and collaborative assignments. In addition, you will learn to use innovative forms for doing research and presenting research. To get a sense of what to expect in this unique educational format, you can find more about previous editions on our website.

This also means the course will be evaluated differently than conventional courses. The course includes self-evaluation, participation in the closing event, and a conversation with the coordinator to determine grades. If you take the course for 7.5 ECTS, a third assignment will entail conducting a practitioner profile of one of the participating practitioners.

Please note: for this course deviant enrolment rules apply
Students must be registered in a Master's programme at Utrecht University, students in one of the Master's programs within the Faculty of Geosciences have priority. 20 students will follow the course together with Dutch practitioners in urban and spatial policy making (e.g. from the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment). Students are required to submit a motivation letter in which they explain why they want to follow this course. The motivation letter can be submitted from September 1st onwards.

You have to enroll for this course in Osiris too. The registration period will be open from Monday 14 September 9:00 AM up to and including Sunday 20 September. You will be notified before the end of the regular registration period whether you can join this course. If not, you can register for another course up to and including Friday 26 September 23:59.