2021 Future Pioneer Futures Summer School Invited Lecture

On July 29, 2021, Peter Scupelli gave an invited lecture at the Future Pioneer 未来塑造力·先锋行动 summer program organized by Tsinghua University and OCT Innovation & Research Institute. There are 164 Chinese students from 45 universities around the world who participated in the summer school. Ninety-nine students finished the second round and seventy students finished the final projects.

The lecture was titled “Teaching Designers to Explore Challenges with Causal Layered Analysis.” The lecture describes how design students understand and use CLA in design problems. This lecture is part of ongoing Dexign Futures research on developing new research methods for large societal challenges such as sustainable development, zero-carbon lifestyles to avert the climate change catastrophe, and so forth.

The premise is to expand the scope of traditional design methods such that one is able to design for a broader field where short-term design action is aligned with long-term vision goals. The new and expanded design methods are created by creatively combining Futures Thinking Methods with Design Thinking Methods. The new integrated design methods are called Dexign Futures. Dexign Futures is an experimental form of design methods. The term “Dexign” was invented by Arnold Wasserman. For more details on the history of the Dexign Futures project see the Dexign Futures Open-Source project website here.

Students from the following universities participated:

Renmin University of China
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sun Yat-sen University
Chongqing University
Guangdong University of Technology
Jiangnan University
Central Academy of Fine Arts
Nanjing Art Institute
Luxun Academy of Fine Arts
Central Academy of Fine Arts
China Academy of Art
East China Normal University
Central South University of Forestry Technology
South China University of Technology
Hubei University of Technology
Beijing Institute of Technology
Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Beijing University of Technology
Beijing University of Chemical Technology
Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
Beijing Forestry University
Changsha University of Technology
Shanghai University of Technology
Shanghai University
Wuhan University of Technology
New York University Shanghai
Western University of Liverpool
University of Nottingham Ningbo
Taiwan University of the Arts
Sungkyunkwan University
Keio University
Illinois Institute of Technology
University of Edinburgh
Royal College of Art
University of the Arts London
Politecnico di Milano
Goldsmiths College London、
University of Alberta
Monash University
Loughborough University
Northeast University
Kingston University
University of Southern California
University of New South Wales