This project aims to shape an approach to engaging with the future which aligns with the complexities of lived experience. Using wool production in the UK as a case study, the project will highlight the challenges in the supply chain and explore new uses for currently undervalued, natural biodegradable materials. This will help develop an initial ‘anticipatory evaluation’ approach for engaging with considerations of digital good in such contexts.

Currently, key challenges in the wool supply chain, such as the lack of data curation, sharing and transparency, affect power dynamics and limits farmers’ market access. The project will explore how technological innovations can drive sustainable supply chains by, for example, addressing the inadequate infrastructure that means wool is often underutilised.

Working with partner Sustainable Rope Ltd, and collaborating with industry stakeholders (including farmers, fashion experts, technologists, and policymakers) the project will co-create ‘objects from the future’ to evaluate digital solutions that impact multiple players in various future scenarios.

By imagining these potential futures and examining their ethical challenges, the hope is to understand responsible and sustainable innovation, to then inform decisions about digital advancements and their impact on society.

Team

Dr Anabel Gutierrez, Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing and Innovation, Royal Holloway, University of London

Dr Naomi Jacobs, Lecturer in Design Policy and Futures Thinking, Lancaster University

Dr Peter Craigon, Research Fellow at Horizon Digital Economy Research, University of Nottingham

Dr David Perez, Lecturer in Radical Co-Design, Lancaster University

Professor Louise Manning, Professor of Sustainable Agri Food Systems, University of Lincoln

Kate Drury, Sustainable Rope Ltd. CEO, Yorkshire