Welcome to Mars

In the year 2520, human migration to Mars has become common practise and Mars has developed their own culture, value, and governance system drastically different to their earth counterpart.

Your task is to create welcome brochures for new Earth immigrants to get accustomed to their new life on Mars.

This seminar is rooted in future thinking, we will examine the future from predictive, normative, and explorative angles, as well as covering topics in: trend forecast, speculative design, design fiction, storytelling, experimental future, world-building, and system thinking. We will also explore the underlying philosophy behind speculative design, storytelling, and system thinking that shapes our view of the future and how we think about it today. This seminar is equally hands on as well as academic – you will have tasks to complete each week following the lecture, and participate in class discussions and debate by diving into current academic discourse. Mars awaits.

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Alicia Shao, KISD graduate from New Zealand. Alicia Shao is a senior service designer at Lego, external lecturer at Köln International School of Design, mentor at Amazing Design People List, and most importantly, a Futurist at heart. As a zealous advocator, Alicia has trained over 1000+ people in design thinking and service design, currently teaching in the area of future thinking and system thinking at KISD. She has also taught at Bauhaus University Weimar and China Academy of Art on the topics of circular design and sustainability, as well as the keynote speaker at various conferences on the importance of futures and people-driven innovation. She is passionate about increasing future literacy and democratizing the future through discursive design, and making futures a tangible playground for all.