S.A.G.E: STEEPLE Future Scenario

Hi everyone, welcome back to our space!

We have just finished our exam period and are now back to work at inno.space. During our recent session, we learned a new way to define our problem space, which is by imagining a future scenario. Our task was to imagine a future in 2050, and we chose to envision a greentocracy, inspired by ARUP’s vision. ARUP’s greentocracy prioritizes nature and the environment over humanity, and we decided to emphasize the importance of holding industries and companies accountable for their impact on the environment. We also wanted to educate consumers on this aspect. To describe our future scenario, we explored STEEPLE, which stands for social, technological, economic, environmental, political, legal, and ethical aspects of future scenarios.

We aimed to create a future in which there exists a balance between humanity and nature. However, for people to be held accountable, there needs to be a way to prove this. With technology becoming more advanced in 2050, and based on real-life examples of modern-day China (Figure 1), surveillance will see a significant upgrade and become more prevalent. While providing security is always a good intention, the question arises as to where it is appropriate, and in case of misuse, it can become too invasive. Ultimately, our future turned out to be a little more dystopic and science-fictiony than we had hoped for, but the industry must be held accountable. 

Figure 1: Social Credit System in China

Source: https://www.change-magazin.de/de/china-social-credit-system-was-steckt-wirklich-dahinter

Highlight:

Look at Team susta.inno

Next steps:

Our next steps will be producing a diegetic prototype through a video as well as conduct interviews with several experts. These interviews could bring us more insight on different elements of textile production as well as the transport chain. 

Much love from overcast, yet-oddly warm Mannheim,

Hnudee, Kasjen, and Kathi