How can playful methods catalyse new ways of knowing?

Play is creative, disruptive and allows us to take risks in a safe space.

Drawing on theoretical roots in Speculative Design and Science & Technology Studies, we will use play to create spaces to explore the future of medicine in adventurous and imaginative ways.

We will open up inquiry through inventive problem-making and create opportunities to interact in ways unencumbered by traditional constraints.

Our methodology centres on creating and experimenting with playful ways of bringing people together across disciplines and sparking new ways of thinking; not playing games, but doing playful research.

Questions we're exploring

How do we create shared intellectual engagement across disciplines, sectors and communities through play?

What methodological tools support connection, creativity and interdisciplinary knowledge production?

How can we play well together?

People

Dr Catherine Montgomery

Senior Lecturer, Science, Technology and Innovation Studies

Catherine Montgomery is a Senior Lecturer in Science & Technology Studies at the University of Edinburgh, with a background in the sociology of science and medicine. Her work explores the intersection of data, care and learning in relation to health, and the use of creative methods for interdisciplinary knowledge production.

Dr Dan Castro

Dan Castro is an animator, designer, educator and researcher with a focus on creativity and play.

Santini Basra

Founder of Andthen. A design futurist who use tools and frameworks to make futures thinking more accessible and actionable and support imaginative, strategic inquiry.

Lewis Just

Futures and innovation practitioner with a deep commitment to sustainability. Lewis works across sectors to imagine alternative futures through creative, exploratory methods.

Fionn Tynan-O'Mahony

Design strategist with a focus on long-term, inclusive futures. Brings experience across government and large organisations into participatory approaches for systemic change.