How will the built environment look when the goals set in Agenda 2030 are realised? How might the sector shaping our built environment function and be organised? What futures are we working towards together and what steps do we need to take along the way?

The Futures We Build initiative was created to respond to the need for shared visions of that which we are in the process of becoming, through our shared commitment and efforts towards sustainability.

Four interdisciplinary teams – Rehearsals, Beyond Blueprints, Now is the new tomorrow and Waves – were invited to create visions portraying futures in which the built environment sector has met its shared sustainability goals set in Agenda 2030 and the impact goals by the strategic innovation programme Smart Built Environment.

Their visions are exhibited at Form/Design Center in Malmö from Jan 31–March 16. Read more about the exhibition here.

An invitation to envision, re-imagine and transform

The visions are by no means comprehensive or static descriptions of what the built environment sector in Sweden will be like in 10, 30 or 50 years from now. Rather, they offer glimpses of possible futures that we can choose to move towards.

The visions are conversation (and imagination) starters that can help diverse actors to take a systems view of where we are today, and where we want to be headed. They are provocations that push us to reconsider our established processes and ways of working. They are invitations to create local and regional visions in Sweden and beyond, grounded in the pasts and present realities of the place, its people and cultures, while daring to re-imagine some of the core logics of why, how, what and for whom we build.

Most importantly, they are catalysts for bold initiatives and actions that can move us toward a more sustainable, inclusive and thriving future in our built environment.

Read about the visions

The visions are presented in depth in a book, where they are described and visualized by the teams, together with a Playbook chapter to enable further exploration of how they might be implemented into the built environment sector. The Preface and Playbook chapters are written by Reeta Hafner, Foresight lead at Media Evolution and illustrated by Dick Hedlund.

Order a copy of the book.
Download the book for free.

Implementing the visions

During the spring of 2025 the visions will also inform conversations in a series of workshops all over Sweden, facilitated by the project team, to bring together key actors in the sector, other stakeholders and the general public to discuss the future of our built environment and identify steps to take going forward to achieve desired outcomes. If you wish to participate in one of the workshops, please contact contact Frida, Project Manager at Media Evolution.

The teams

Rehearsals

Love Di Marco (architect), Margarida Waco (architect and researcher), Natalie Hase (architect), Jelena Mijanovic (manager circular economy, building sector), Tobias Hentzer Dausgaard (architect and industrial Ph.D. fellow) and Peter Ström (graphic/web designer).

Waves

Mirja Wande (architect), Gustav Svanborg Eden (project leader, Malmö Stad), Marthijn Pool (architect / co-founder of Space&Matter), Michael Palmgren (Marine Education Center Malmö), Marcus Leyman (software engineer and systems architect), Anna Eklund (landscape architect), Michal Kaperski and Jacek Baczkowski (architects, Drip Visual).

Now is the New Tomorrow

Teres Arvidsson (process leader), Gustav Magnusson (urban planner), Johan Pitura (circular architect), and Erik Larsen (circular structural engineer). They will be backed by experts such as Frida Hylander (climate psychologist), and Lia Ghilardi (cultural planner and creative strategist).

Beyond Blueprints

Vanessa Ware (innovation and process leader, Ware Labs) Malin Lampa (innovation and digitalisation leader in the built environment sector, TechSeed), Maria Lindelöf (sustainability strategist & process leader within sustainable urban development, Enköping kommun), Bobo Baudin (strategist soft digital infrastructure, SKR), Katrin Behdjou Arshi (urban development director, Fastighetsägarna Stockholm), Karin Victorin (artist & producer, Wild Ride).

Program

Ongoing Activities
Jan 30 – Mar 16	Exhibition: Visions of The Futures We Build
May 13	Workshop: Towards a Sustainable Built Environment Sector, Stockholm. Contact Frida if you'd like to participate

Past Activities
	Lecture: Transforming our Built Environment with Deb Chachra
	Lecture: Envisioning Futures of the Built Environment with Nick Dunn
	Lecture: Designing our Futures with Indy Johar

Funding

The project is a strategic project within Smart Built Environment, one of Sweden’s 17 Strategic Innovation Programs, with funding from Vinnova (Sweden’s innovation agency), The Swedish Energy Agency and Formas (Swedish government research council for sustainable development). It is run by Media Evolution in collaboration with the Federation of Swedish Innovation Companies.

If you want to know more about the project, contact our Foresight Lead, Reeta Hafner.