Fear of change – transformation prototypes

How can participatory prototyping be used to enable citizens to engage with social change and help shape the future? Gender roles are dissolving, artificial intelligence is disrupting the world of work and the climate catastrophe requires a transition to a sustainable post-growth economy. These social transformation processes are accompanied by feelings of insecurity and loss of control. Populist actors capitalise on these fears of loss and present them as a threat.

The course "Fear of change – transformation prototypes", led by Paula Schuster and Pascal Ackerschott, therefore focussed on the question of how participatory design can be used as a means of participation and understanding to counteract social division.

The course participants from the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam spent a semester researching co-creative prototyping as a political instrument in transformation design to strengthen democracy.

In this publication, the three resulting participatory workshop formats, which relate to current social issues in need of transformation, are presented and explained step by step. A special focus in all formats is on the prototyping method. The workshops offer an opportunity for creative collaboration and collective thinking to discover innovative solutions.

Participants: Toni Flügel, Maike Klingler, Lea Rüdrich, Philipp Buhlmann, Vi Quan Ta, Guolong Wang, Maria Giannisi, Mihye Kim, Luka Saje, Yette Shira Strauss Suhr, Annika Ehritt