CCWP

Workshop Website: https://welcom2thebioverse.notion.site/co-creating-with-plants

This workshop invites participants to explore how plants can act as speculative prompts and design partners in imagining ecological multispecies futures.

Through a hands-on process that combines plant encounters, card-based prompts, immersive VR sketching, and structured backcasting, participants will co-create speculative visions of the year 2100 and work backwards to identify the technologies, practices, and cultural shifts needed to realise them. The goal is to move from fiction → foresight → practice, generating both imaginative futures and actionable “today’s practices” for HCI.

We welcome designers, researchers, artists, and practitioners with interests in speculative design, ecological futures, interactive narratives, or more-than-human HCI. No prior VR experience is required. Participants will work in small groups, alternating roles between VR sketching, annotation, and guiding.

We expect 10–20 participants, the participation form can be found on the workshop website. VR HMDs will be supplied, and all workshop materials (cards, templates, and a summary report) will also be made available online for those unable to attend.

Topics of interest

The workshop will generate both immediate artefacts and longer-term contributions:

• 3D Artefacts: VR sketches and short clips of speculative human–plant–computer futures created in OpenBrush.
• Backcasting Roadmaps: Group pathways connecting futures (2100, 2050, 2030) to present-day actions.
• Today’s Practices: Concrete recommendations for integrating ecological and multispecies perspectives into design.
• Reflections: Participant notes and evaluations on the role of fiction, plants, and VR in foresight.
• Documentation: Photos, screenshots, and group outputs compiled for sharing

Workshop Format

The workshop is designed as a half-day session on-site, structured into two main phases: speculative worldbuilding and backcasting. The format combines embodied encounters with plants, collaborative VR sketching, and structured backcasting to guide participants from imaginative futures to actionable design practices.

Organizers

• Nour Boulahcen (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
• Helen Husca (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
• Yifan Chen (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
• Syeda Nikhat Mohsin (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
• Gareth W. Young (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)