Background

“Signs of Change” is a futures speculation toolkit and facilitation process, leveraging public-facing signage as critical artefacts for communities to critically explore the effects of climate disrupted futures and implications of emerging products/systems/services.

Not only does this serve to educate on future literacy but also to visualize and make tangible the consequences of climate change and shifts in social, economic and political ideas. The nature of the signs being able to pop-up and blend in anywhere helps broaden the discourse by engaging different global communities and organizations in jointly imagining and nudging new social norms and behaviours in response to climate disruption. Speculative signs can be encountered in exhibition settings, pop-ups and throughout the city scape, sharing Future making as collective practise.

In collaboration with Radical Norms, Angelika Seeschaaf-Veres, Daniel Daam-Rossi and Koby Barhad we explored Signs of Change in Stockholm in 2022 thanks to funding we received from Vinnova, the Swedish State Agency for funding research and development. In 2023 Signs of Change expanded its reach to California (US), Tel Aviv (ISR) and Singapore (SG).

Prototyping a pop-up exhibition

With a growing number of  Signs and their tagged micro scenario, year, position and shift, we composed a timeline guiding guests into the space of futures shaped by climate change. Starting as close as 2023, signs of change were printed as prototyped posters leading through shifts in environment, culture, health, policy and jurisdiction based on research and brilliant expert interviews.

Contributors were asked to respond to a workshop framework during the events – contributing with initial reactions, effects, and actions that are emerging around the signs. The goal is to localise the future narratives in day-to-day realities and explore new emerging situations that speak to new behaviours, products, systems, services and situations that could become our new lived reality. The participants ultimately identify their role in the new reality and manifest their Future position in a Business Card aspiring to actions on this pro-active path.

Exhibition setting

We started with over 23 signs developed and produced as perfect counter-fits by the City of Stockholm street sign makers.  In different set-ups from an indoor exhibition setting to an outdoor public intervention we explored and tested the project widely.

With the first venue of Trikfåbriken, a vibrant mix of visitors postgraduate Hyper Island students and faculty from different nationalities, professional backgrounds and ages explored the forest of sings. Members and visitors to Naturvårdsverket responded to the organisational and economic aspects of the signs and contributed to the discussion and micro workshop. Participants shared actions they would likely take in various future scenarios brought by the signs and ideated about other signs they could see appearing in their respective communities and neighbourhoods.

At events like Bifrost in the US and SG Innovate in Singapore we engaged Start-ups, Organisations and Innovation leaders in impacts around legislation, health, ethical and indigenous AI and behavioural shifts always with a strong perspective on the environmental impact.

With delegations from various cultures and in collaboration with Embassies around the world we localise signs to train and ideate Futures with political leaders and public servants.

Pop-up public space

Leveraging the urban beach of Tanto with its diverse environmental contexts, this pop-up installation focused on climate realities connected to water. The featured signs (supported by extreme weather conditions on the day of the workshop) invited passers-by of Stockholms’ popular waterfront recreation area to immerse themselves in scenarios related to relevant climate shifts (flash floods, rising sea levels, increased temperature, acidity of the Baltic Sea etc.).

With Signs of Change localised in various places in the US, Middle East and Asia we place and discuss Climate impact on Site with local communities.