Abstract
Sharing communities challenge traditional models of ownership by allowing their members to temporarily access resources such as DIY tools, workshop spaces, and musical instruments. Although designers and design researchers have previously involved sharing communities in design, there are additional opportunities to engage sharing communities in speculating about their possible futures. This study invited 13 participants from various local sharing communities in Scotland to collaboratively speculate on how developments in technology, infrastructure, the economy, politics, and social and cultural aspects might influence their community sharing practices in the long term. By examining their future scenarios, we gain insight into the possible futures of community sharing and the opportunities for design and research. These include designing shared resources that support community values, amplifying community voices in public-sector design, creating infrastructure to connect communities, and fostering a sharing culture at the societal level.
Keywords
Community sharing; design research; co-speculation; world building
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2229
Citation
Wu, H., Nissen, B., and Lechelt, S. (2026) Co-speculating future design research opportunities in community sharing with local sharing communities, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2229
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Co-speculating future design research opportunities in community sharing with local sharing communities
Sharing communities challenge traditional models of ownership by allowing their members to temporarily access resources such as DIY tools, workshop spaces, and musical instruments. Although designers and design researchers have previously involved sharing communities in design, there are additional opportunities to engage sharing communities in speculating about their possible futures. This study invited 13 participants from various local sharing communities in Scotland to collaboratively speculate on how developments in technology, infrastructure, the economy, politics, and social and cultural aspects might influence their community sharing practices in the long term. By examining their future scenarios, we gain insight into the possible futures of community sharing and the opportunities for design and research. These include designing shared resources that support community values, amplifying community voices in public-sector design, creating infrastructure to connect communities, and fostering a sharing culture at the societal level.