Event description
What if we solved the energy crisis and deployed nuclear fusion energy production at scale? What if we could now universally recycle everything we use? What if we solved world hunger by creating a single complete daily nutrition pill? What if we could manipulate time locally? All of these “what-ifs” sound like they would solve pressing global challenges...but are they actually as good as they sound?
Science-fiction employs a ‘what if’ formula to explore ethical, cultural, political, and psychological impacts of innovations. Thinking about developments through this lens can help researchers think beyond the immediate outcomes of their work to imagine myriad future impacts.
This workshop uses science fiction-inspired sandpits to explore imaginative and ethical responses to global challenges. Grounded in UKRI’s Framework for Responsible Research and Innovation, the sandpits will promote creativity and play as tools for inclusive, interdisciplinary research development and ethics. The initiative will establish a collaborative interdisciplinary network, leveraging researchers’ combined areas of expertise to respond to global challenges.
Event programme
- Date: 20 February 2026
- Location: The Hunterian Zoology Museum, University of Glasgow, Graham Kerr Building, Science Way, Glasgow, G12 8QQ
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 10 am to 10:30 am | Welcome and Introduction to the Project |
| 10:30 am to 10:50 am | Icebreaker: Building your personal utopia -What does your perfect future look like? What values does it embody? |
| 10:50 am to 11:30 am | What if? - In the future, society has made incredible progress – but what are its consequences? |
| 11:30 am to 12:30 pm | Role-Playing Game - With new technologies, whose priorities reign supreme? |
| 12:30 pm to 1:15 pm | Lunch break & networking |
| 1:15 pm to 2:00 pm | Finding Your Own Ethical Horizons |
| 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm | Addressing Global Challenges - How can your research help? |
| 3:00 pm to 3:15 pm | Break |
| 3:15 pm to 4:00 pm | Funding the Future of this Collaborative Network |
Who is this for?
We invite those in all academic fields – sciences, social sciences, humanities, and engineering – as well as those working on global challenges in other sectors, such as museums and industry settings, who are interested in developing collaborative teams to explore and address global challenges.
Funding Acknowledgement
Funded by the University of Strathclyde's Institutional Funding for Research Culture Award, Cultures of Collaborative Research (Wellcome Trust).
