Key details
Time
- 4pm – 5pm
Location
- Online
Price
- Free
Who can attend
- Everyone
Type
- Webinar
Design as a practice often works well in the playgrounds of others. The domains of design and foresight have been circling each other for a while now. Foresight has been moving out of long, dry reports and into practical demonstrations of worlds that may be born, whilst design now keeps a firm eye on faraway horizons as it grapples with the entangled implications of its actions.
What does this tell us about the world we live in today, and how we might want (or urgently need) to change it? Join Charlie Warwick, Associate Director of Foresight at Arup, and pioneering industrial and interaction designer Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino as they unpack what makes Foresight and Design increasingly inhabit the same spaces, in conversation with the leaders of the RCA’s Futures Through Design course, Dr Rob Phillips and John V Willshire.
Speakers
Charlie Warwick
As Associate Director for Foresight in Arup University, Charlie works with stakeholders across industry to imagine and shape more sustainable futures, and to make space and place more resilient to long-term change and disruption. Charlie previously worked in the UK Government Office for Science, advising on a wide range of policy issues and building futures literacy across the Civil Service.
Charlie received the Next Generation Foresight Practitioner Award (Europe, 2019) for her work on rural town revival, holds a BA from the University of Oxford and is a Fellow at the Centre for Science and Policy, Cambridge University.
Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino
Alexandra is an internet of things author, consultant, public speaker and entrepreneur with a background in industrial and interaction design.
She wrote ‘Smarter Homes: how technology will change your home life’ (Apress, 2018) was the first UK distributor of the Arduino and is the founder of the Good Night Lamp which is in the permanent collection of the London Design Museum. Her projects are also part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
John V Willshire
John is the founder of Smithery, an independent Strategic Design Practice established in London in 2011. Smithery helps organisations take an active role in shaping their futures as they look out over an uncertain landscape.
This involves learning to perceive and understand new realities, then acting upon the opportunities revealed to spark appropriate internal innovation.
John’s work is informed by a wide range of experience across different fields, including futures and foresight, innovation, design, economics and market research. He is a highly experienced facilitator and keynote speaker.
Recent projects include working in partnership with Changeist to build a Future Trends and Signals System for UNDP, developing a community engagement strategy in Climate and Health for Wellcome Trust, and creating a new strategic approach for capability building within Unilever.
John also leads the Innovation and Future Thinking summer course at IED Barcelona, which this summer celebrated its tenth anniversary.
Dr Rob Phillips
Rob is a product designer and researcher with over 25 years of industry experience, and Reader in Sustainable Futures.
During his career, Rob has authored numerous research papers, secured five international patents, and co-founded two successful start-ups: Upgrade Bikes and d3o Materials Lab. Both start-ups employ more than 40 staff members and are recognised leaders in bike componentry and protective solutions. Rob's user-oriented proposals have included lifesaving applications in fire and ballistics, which have gained international circulation. In 2024, he was selected by the UK’s Design Council to serve as an Expert Panel Member in Planet Centred Design, a position that followed a rigorous application process with more than 3,000 applicants for only 250 places.
In the series
Free online talks led by RCA academic faculty featuring notable guest speakers with industry specialism and leading professional practitioners in their field.
