Dr. Lauren Withycombe Keeler is a postdoctoral scientist in the Faculty of Sustainability at Leuphana University Lüneburg. Her research applies methods of anticipation to inform sustainability transformation and educate students to think in multi-dimensional, critical and creative ways about the future.

Topic: Thinking creatively and non-linearly about the future is a challenge. Whether crafting sustainability visions or considering possible technology development pathways, it’s hard to break with our own expectations. Yet considering alternative futures is fundamental for sustainability transformations. To that end, three projects are exploring how to challenge researchers and educate students to think divergently and reflectively about the futures of their work. In the first, Local Living Economies, students and business owners are creating scenarios and experiments for sustainable local living economies in Lüneburg, Germany. In the second, students from universities throughout the world are constructing alternative pathways to reach the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The final project, Museum of the Future, proposes research and teaching about cities in dynamic and immersive spaces to coconstruct and contest futures-in-progress. Each project illuminates the promise and challenges of students, researchers, and the public co-constructing creative and non-linear futures.