CASE STUDY

Supporting Solway Coast and Marine Project to image a future where people are ‘coastodians’ of the Solway Firth, 2038

A project called Solway Coast and Marine Project (SCAMP) which aims to generate innovation in restoration of natural capital of the Solway Firth through research and development of habitat restoration techniques for 4 key habitats/species: native oysters, seagrass, salt marsh and coastal woodlands. This £20 million programme will run for 10-15 years and will deliver a new marine research centre in Stranraer.

Context

What we did

We supported the Solway Coast and Marine Project engagement process for Only Human Ltd creating an experience futures workshop called Solway Lab 2038 and developing the report for the project. The workshop we designed transported people into the concept of becoming a ‘Coastodian’ of the Solway Firth and making decisions about the natural environment both surrounding it and within it.

Similar to the River Council in Valencia, members of the public were invited to pledge to support the coastline and make decisions in it’s favour whilst balancing stakeholders, both human and non-human that live alongside it’s 9 coastal communities.

“Working with inspirational Feeldwork, we co-created an experiential workshop that really brought the SCAMP project to life, engaging participants deeply in future visioning. Feedback has been full of praise for this creative placemaking approach”. — Barbara, Director Only Human

Elements from the Solway Lab 2038 experience

This experiential future visioning workshop took as its inspiration Valencia’s River Court, which has been in existence for hundreds of years, giving locals living on all tributaries feeding into the River Turia responsibility for caretaking the river bed.

The experience was designed to enable people to think about the future of Solway Firth, as if they were in 2038. Participants were transported through methods of Design Fiction and Speculative Design to consider the values, challenges, benefits and impact of planning in the region.