The Future Of The Wild
🚧 Challenge
As part of our graduate-level Foresight Studio at OCAD University, our team was assigned the thematic domain of The Future of the Wild in 2040. The challenge involved developing a comprehensive foresight scenario for a hypothetical client. To deepen the inquiry, we selected ‘Identity’ as a cross-cutting axis, allowing us to investigate how personal and collective identity might evolve in relation to nature over time.
Project Type: Academic
Course: SFIN Foresight Studio, Master of Design (MDes), OCAD University
Duration: January 7 – April 7, 2020
Team: Alexis Tennent, Hannah Chafetz, Nam Hoang, Shahria Khan
My Contributions: Ideation, conceptualization, storytelling, trend analysis, scenario building, web development, and content creation
🎯 Objective
Our guiding question—how might future humans form their identities in relation to the Wild?—was designed to surface the motivational forces driving both climate action and inertia. Our hypothetical client for this exploration was the United Nations (UN), framing the work within a global institutional context.
🌱 Outcome
Through environmental scanning, trend synthesis, and scenario building, we created four divergent future narratives centered around shifts in identity and their potential impact on humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Each scenario highlights key implications for individuals, communities, and ecosystems in the year 2040.
🏆Recognition
🏆 This project earned 2nd place globally in the 2020 Association of Professional Futurists’ Student Recognition Awards.
🔍 Methodologies
Our team identified and synthesized 14 trends derived from weak and strong signals, analyzed through the STEEPV framework (Society, Technology, Economy, Environment, Politics, and Values).
Click this link to learn more about the four trends I developed for this project.
These trends served as the foundation for the four exploratory scenarios, each offering a speculative lens on how evolving identity narratives might reshape humanity’s interaction with the Wild.
🔹 Causal Layered Analysis (CLA)
To decode the multilayered relationships between identity and nature, we employed Causal Layered Analysis (CLA). We progressed from surface-level litanies to deeper worldviews, ultimately arriving at the core metaphor: “We are what we wear.”
🔹 Generic Images of the Future
Drawing upon Jim Dator’s Generic Futures (Growth, Transformation, Discipline, Collapse), we reinterpreted our core metaphor through four distinct CLA pathways.
🔹 Temporal Mapping
Each CLA was projected onto a 2040 timeline, enabling us to map plausible trajectories of change and their potential triggers.
🌳 The Designed Future: “Equal Ground” Scenario
🌍 Equal Ground envisions a 2040 where humans pursue equity with nature through institutional reform and immersive public engagement. 🏞️ Centered on a fictional government agency, ONE (Open Natural Environment), the scenario explores identity transformation through environmental cohabitation.
🔹 What
Our final designed future is grounded in the “Transformation” archetype. It takes the form of a fictional government website developed by a rebranded Toronto Parks & Recreation department, now known as ONE (Open Natural Environment)—symbolizing a shift toward ecological equity.
🔹 How
This scenario was selected through team consensus and highlights a future in which humans actively strive to establish parity with non-human life through policy and innovation.
🔹 Why
We sought to illustrate how global climate strategies might manifest at the municipal level. Developed during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our objective was to make the scenario as immersive as possible. The website incorporates video diaries and project narratives to demonstrate how new ecological priorities shape human identity.
🌐Artifact
We created a fictional web portal for ONE representing an artifact of the future. The portal reflects a key aspect of the “Equal Ground” narrative. The platform also features four fictional characters, symbolizing the inclusion of diverse voices in co-creating futures. These personas were brought to life through a performed act captured in the video.
👥 Team Contribution & Collaboration Ethos
Our collaborative ethos emphasized equity in workload, skills-based role allocation, and mutual respect. All members had the autonomy to contribute meaningfully, and prior consent was obtained before assuming additional responsibilities. For example, I led the development of the website owing to my prior experience, while other team members led content writing, UX structuring, and visual design.
✍️ Acknowledgment
Acknowledges collective authorship and the adaptation of this content from the team’s final project report.