ANTICIPATE
Art, Design and Pedagogies of Transitions: From Foresight to Action
“Education is the point at which we decide whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility for it.” Hannah Arendt
Contemporary societies are experiencing multiple transitions that are profoundly reshaping the ways we inhabit the world, produce, transmit knowledge, and imagine the future. Environmental crises, digital transformations, the rise of artificial intelligence, shifts in economic models, social reconfigurations, and new relationships with the living world simultaneously challenge present conditions and the futures we wish to build.
In this context of uncertainty, anticipation cannot be reduced to a simple exercise in prediction. It refers to a capacity for understanding, projecting, and acting that enables individuals and institutions to explore the possible consequences of present choices and to contribute to the construction of alternative trajectories. Anticipation therefore implies a collective responsibility toward future generations, a responsibility that Hannah Arendt associated with the very mission of education.
Foresight must be distinguished from forecasting. Forecasting relies on extending existing trends in order to estimate a probable future, whereas foresight, as defined by Gaston Berger, considers the future as an open space to be explored and constructed (Berger, 1964). Bertrand de Jouvenel similarly argued that the future is not an object of certainty but of conjecture, deliberation, and will (de Jouvenel, 1964). Today, this tradition finds a contemporary extension in the concept of Futures Literacy, promoted notably by UNESCO, which views anticipation as a capability enabling individuals and communities to use the future to better understand the present and guide action (Miller, 2018).
At the same time, the notion of transitions requires clarification. Transitions do not refer to isolated changes or short-term adaptations, but to profound and long-term transformations affecting sociotechnical systems, institutions, cultural practices, organizations, and collective imaginaries. Geels (2002) demonstrated that such transitions emerge from complex and multi-level dynamics involving interactions among technologies, institutions, actors, and practices. Contemporary sustainability transition research further emphasizes that transitions are not driven solely by technological innovation or political decisions but by evolving configurations of actors, knowledge systems, and competing visions of the future (Köhler et al., 2019). It is precisely within this space of uncertainty and possibility that design finds one of its most significant contemporary fields of intervention.
This relationship between responsibility, project-making, and transformation has long constituted one of the foundations of design. At the end of the nineteenth century, William Morris and the Arts & Crafts movement questioned the social, cultural, and environmental consequences of industrialization and advocated a project-oriented approach aimed at improving living conditions, the quality of human production, and the harmony between objects, uses, and environments (Morris, 1882/2016; Naylor, 1971). Such concerns may be regarded as one of the earliest expressions of the anticipatory dimension of design. This perspective continued throughout the evolution of modern and contemporary design, from the Bauhaus to current approaches in social design, strategic design, systemic design, speculative design, and transition design. As Nigel Cross (2006) demonstrated, design relies on a specific way of knowing and acting in the world. This projective capability brings together reflection, representation, experimentation, and transformation. Design is not limited to solving existing problems; it also contributes to building visions, exploring scenarios, and giving tangible form to possible futures. This orientation is reflected in contemporary work on transition design, project-based foresight, and speculative approaches that use design as a means of critically exploring alternative futures.
In parallel, research in design management has shown that the competencies mobilized by designers extend far beyond the formal and aesthetic dimensions traditionally associated with design practice. Borja de Mozota and Chouki highlight the designer’s role as researcher, mediator, and strategist. Through the ability to observe emerging uses, anticipate evolving needs, construct scenarios, make complex situations visible, and coordinate actors from different backgrounds, designers contribute to the creation of new responses to contemporary challenges. Observation, research, visualization, mediation, creativity, systems thinking, uncertainty management, and change facilitation have thus become essential resources for understanding and supporting ongoing social, environmental, economic, and technological transformations (Borja de Mozota & Chouki, 2017; Borja de Mozota, 2018).
These competencies are increasingly mobilized beyond traditional design fields, including management, social innovation, public policy, the social and solidarity economy, and sustainability transitions. Such developments invite us to reconsider the role of art and design education and the ways in which contemporary pedagogies prepare future actors to engage with these transformations.
Central Question
How can art and design pedagogies educate individuals capable not only of accompanying contemporary transitions, but also of anticipating their challenges and shaping their future directions?
This question invites reflection on the pedagogical models, competencies, and educational frameworks that can prepare students to act in contexts characterized by complexity, uncertainty, and the growing interdependence of social, technological, and environmental phenomena. It also requires examining the impact of emerging technologies on creative and educational practices. Generative artificial intelligence, immersive environments, simulation tools, and new forms of digital collaboration are radically transforming the conditions of creation, learning, and knowledge transmission. Consequently, the challenge is not merely to integrate these technologies into educational settings, but also to develop a critical understanding of their ethical, cultural, social, and epistemological implications.
Generative artificial intelligence is already reshaping the very gestures of design practice. It supports ideation, produces alternatives, and shifts the traditional boundaries between designer, tool, and creative process (Verganti, Vendraminelli, & Iansiti, 2020). Integrating AI into design education cannot therefore be reduced to technical adoption. The competencies traditionally associated with design practice observation, mediation, systems thinking, and uncertainty managemen tprovide precisely the resources needed to question biases, explainability, sociocultural effects, and the sustainability of generative technologies. The objective is not to train passive users of AI systems, but rather reflective practitioners capable of embedding these technologies within explicit ethical, critical, and pedagogical frameworks.
Finally, anticipating requires moving beyond projection in order to address the conditions under which change becomes possible. How do visions generated through art and design become projects? How do these projects evolve into innovations, organizational transformations, or concrete actions? What roles do strategic design, design management, participatory approaches, and theories of change play in the transition from foresight to action?
Anticipation is therefore understood here not as a predictive exercise, but as a capacity to explore, imagine, design, and construct possible and desirable futures through the practices of design, art, research, and education.
Through this issue entitled ANTICIPATE, DEED – Designing Education, Teaching Design seeks to open a space for reflection on the relationships between art, design, pedagogy, foresight, and societal transformation. More than an invitation to imagine the future, this issue aims to explore how art and design pedagogies contribute to educating individuals capable of understanding contemporary transitions, anticipating their developments, and supporting their implementation.
Axis 1: Anticipating Transformations: Design, Foresight, and Future Imaginaries
Anticipation constitutes one of the historical and foundational dimensions of design. Long before the emergence of contemporary foresight approaches, pioneers of the Arts & Crafts movement and later the Bauhaus sought to understand the social, cultural, and technological consequences of the transformations of their time. This capacity to envision alternatives and imagine different ways of inhabiting the world runs throughout the history of design and can now be found in speculative design, design fiction, strategic design, and transition design approaches (Cross, 2006; Dunne & Raby, 2013; Irwin, 2015).
From this perspective, design appears not only as a discipline of conception but also as a practice of future exploration. Through its ability to construct narratives, produce scenarios, represent possibilities, and make visions tangible, design helps illuminate present choices while nourishing collective imaginaries. Manzini (2015) highlights the role of design in developing collaborative and socially oriented responses to contemporary challenges, while Buehring and Borja de Mozota (2022) emphasize its contribution to building systemic visions capable of supporting societal and environmental transformations.
Drawing on the work of Gaston Berger (1964) and Bertrand de Jouvenel (1964), foresight is understood here as a capacity to explore possible, probable, and desirable futures in order to inform present action. Design offers a privileged language through which these futures can be visualized, debated, and made actionable.
This axis therefore invites contributors to examine how artistic practices, design approaches, and design education contribute to imagining, representing, critiquing, and directing future transformations.
Examples of expected contributions
- pedagogies of foresight and future studies;
- design fiction, speculative design, and future imaginaries;
- critical approaches to ecological, social, and technological transitions;
- the role of design in constructing collective visions;
- relationships between anticipation, creativity, and innovation;
- foresight-based approaches in art and design education;
- possible, probable, desirable, and sustainable futures;
- artistic practices as forms of exploring possibilities;
- historical legacies of foresight within design cultures;
- foundational figures of anticipation in design, from William Morris to contemporary transition design approaches.
Axis 2: Design Competencies, Artificial Intelligence, and Pedagogies of Anticipation
The rapid development of artificial intelligence, digital environments, generative systems, and immersive technologies is profoundly transforming creative practices, learning processes, and modes of design. However, the challenge goes beyond the adoption of new technologies. It also concerns the ability of design education to develop and renew the competencies that are at the core of the discipline.
Research in design management has shown that designers mobilize distinctive forms of knowledge and practice grounded in user observation, critical thinking, creativity, visualization, mediation, systems thinking, uncertainty management, and complex problem-solving (Borja de Mozota & Chouki, 2017; Borja de Mozota, 2018). These competencies are increasingly recognized as essential resources for understanding contemporary transformations and supporting innovation processes.
Generative artificial intelligence is progressively reshaping design activities by assisting ideation, generating alternatives, automating tasks, and shifting traditional boundaries between author, tool, and creative process (Verganti, Vendraminelli, & Iansiti, 2020). In this context, design education is challenged to move beyond technical training and foster a critical understanding of the social, cultural, environmental, cognitive, and ethical implications of these technologies.
Cross’s (2006) concept of designerly ways of knowing and Michlewski’s (2015) notion of design attitude remind us that the value of design lies less in mastering a particular tool than in developing a specific way of observing, questioning, representing, and acting upon reality. Similarly, Meyer and Norman (2020) stress the need to rethink design education in order to prepare future designers for increasingly complex, interdisciplinary, and technologically evolving environments.
This axis invites contributors to explore how design competencies evolve in the age of artificial intelligence and how design pedagogies can educate individuals capable of using, questioning, and critically evaluating emerging technologies.
Examples of expected contributions
- the impact of artificial intelligence on art and design education;
- critical pedagogies of artificial intelligence;
- design competencies in the context of digital transformations;
- critical thinking, creativity, and systems thinking;
- emerging forms of collaborative learning;
- ethical, cultural, environmental, and epistemological issues of emerging technologies;
- hybrid pedagogical environments;
- transformations of creative processes and knowledge transmission;
- new designer competencies in AI-enhanced environments;
- relationships between artificial intelligence, design, creativity, and innovation;
- pedagogical frameworks for the responsible use of AI.
Axis 3: From Foresight to Action: Pedagogies, Methodologies, and the Transformation of Practices
Anticipation does not simply mean imagining or projecting possible futures. It reaches its full significance when it leads to experimentation, action, and the transformation of practices. While design contributes to building visions and exploring scenarios, it also participates in their implementation through project-based approaches, collaborative methods, and change-oriented practices.
Research in design management has shown that design is not confined to the creation of artifacts but also contributes to the transformation of organizations, processes, territories, and innovation cultures (Borja de Mozota, 2018). From this perspective, anticipation becomes a capacity to translate intentions into action, to make collective visions tangible, and to foster their appropriation by stakeholders.
Recent work in strategic design highlights the importance of participatory approaches, co-design, experimentation, prototyping, and facilitation as drivers of learning and transformation (Buehring & Borja de Mozota, 2022; Liedtka et al., 2017). Supporting transitions also requires understanding the mechanisms through which change is adopted, implemented, and evaluated. In this regard, design management, design leadership, social innovation, service-oriented models, and theories of change provide particularly productive frameworks for linking strategic vision and concrete action. This axis focuses on the methods, pedagogical frameworks, and learning environments that enable the transition from foresight to action. It explores the hybridization of research, creation, education, innovation, and collective action, as well as the approaches that support transitions in real-world contexts.
Examples of expected contributions
- project-based, experiential, and action-oriented pedagogies;
- research-through-design and creative research practices;
- co-design, living labs, and third places;
- design management, strategic design, and design leadership;
- Lean, Agile, and Design Thinking approaches in education;
- theories of change and transition support;
- collaborative and interdisciplinary environments;
- relationships between education, social innovation, and organizational transformation;
- systemic approaches to change;
- mechanisms for the appropriation, implementation, and evaluation of pedagogical innovations;
- mediation, facilitation, and change management practices;
- innovation through use and service-oriented approaches;
- pedagogical experiments addressing social, environmental, and territorial transformation.
More than a reflection on the future, ANTICIPATE invites us to question the capacity of design, artistic practices, and their pedagogies to actively contribute to the understanding, orientation, and construction of worlds yet to come.
Submission Guidelines – DEED Issue No. 4
ANTICIPATE
Art, Design and Pedagogies of Transitions: From Foresight to Action
The ANTICIPATE call for papers adopts an open, interdisciplinary, and forward-looking perspective. Any contribution, pedagogical initiative, educational experience, research project, creative practice, methodological innovation, or institutional initiative examining the relationships between art, design, education, and transitions is welcome within this issue.
Rather than adhering to a single definition of transition, the central objective is to explore how contemporary transformations can be understood, anticipated, and translated into action through art, design, and education. Transitions are understood here as complex social, cultural, technological, environmental, and pedagogical processes that reshape the ways we learn, transmit knowledge, create, and inhabit the world.
In this perspective, ANTICIPATE welcomes plural approaches that view education as a space for projection, experimentation, and transformation, where artistic and design practices contribute to generating new knowledge, exploring possible futures, and supporting ongoing transitions.
Contributions may address, among other topics:
- educational contents and curricula;
- pedagogical innovations;
- project-based methodologies;
- foresight and futures-oriented approaches;
- research-through-design and creative research;
- new modes of knowledge transmission;
- artificial intelligence and educational transformation;
- interdisciplinary and transformative practices.
We invite critical, theoretical, empirical, experimental, and practice-based contributions, whether completed, ongoing, or prospective. Submissions may take the form of:
- research articles;
- case studies;
- project reports;
- methodological papers;
- interviews;
- pedagogical experimentations;
- research-creation projects;
- or any other format relevant to the theme of the issue.
This call is addressed to researchers, academics, artists, designers, architects, educational practitioners, pedagogical leaders, cultural professionals, digital humanities scholars, engineers, doctoral candidates, and advanced students.
Particular attention will be given to contributions from:
- design (product, spatial, graphic, textile, service, digital);
- architecture;
- education sciences;
- social sciences and humanities;
- futures studies and foresight;
- digital humanities;
- and any discipline investigating the relationships between creation, transmission, innovation, and transformation.
Submissions should demonstrate originality, scientific rigor, and a genuine contribution to contemporary debates on education, creativity, design, and transitions. Particular attention will be paid to the clarity of the argumentation, the explicitness of the theoretical or methodological framework, and the relevance of the proposed reflection for understanding the evolution of pedagogical practices and design education.
We especially encourage contributions capable of opening new perspectives on the relationships between pedagogy, foresight, artificial intelligence, innovation, creation, knowledge hybridization, and societal transformation. Through this issue, DEED aims to foster a critical and constructive dialogue around anticipation by considering art, design, and education as key drivers for understanding and transforming the worlds to come.
Submission Instructions and Key Dates
- Papers should be between 2,500 and 8,000 words.
- Manuscripts must comply with the DEED Style Guide.
- Online submissions are now open.
- Full papers, in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx), must be submitted no later than 30 October 2026.
- The issue will be published online in January 2027.
- Submissions must be uploaded exclusively through the DEED platform:
https://design-in-deed.com/index.php/journal/about/submissions
- Manuscripts should be named according to the following format:
AuthorName_ShortTitle_Anticipate_DEED4.docx
Review Process and Publication
DEED operates on a continuous submission model and publishes two thematic issues per year. All submissions undergo a double-blind peer-review process, ensuring scientific rigor, objectivity, and quality.
Authors are invited to consult the Instructions for Authors before submitting and to ensure compliance with all editorial requirements and submission deadlines. Papers received and accepted after the submission deadline may be considered for publication in a subsequent issue.