At The PARALLEL UNIVERSity, we offer workshops tailored for groups, educational institutions, schools, and organisations seeking to expand their capacity for imagination. Our courses can be customized to meet the specific needs of your context.
See our previous work here.

All our courses are built on the foundation of Experiential Learning, which engages participants through hands-on experiences and reflection. This experiential approach is combined with Worldbuilding, a process familiar from Science Fiction and Fantasy, where participants engage in narrating fictional universes. Besides that, we are inspired by different transformational methods such as Three horizon framework and Theory U. Our work is closely related to both Futures literacy, Experience design and theories around how we incorporate play in different design processes.

Participants will go through a three-phased learning experience:

Framework

Becoming aware of the current reality:

We aim to increase awareness and understanding of current realities, by reflecting and critically examining established norms.

1.

2.

Building fictional universes:

Using recycled materials,
participants will first create narratives for
fictional universes and then bring them to life through physical manifestations.

Reflection by relating both universes to each other:

We bridge the gap between their fictional worlds and the current reality, and encourage participants to bring their insights, experiences, and aspirations into practical application and thereby cultivate an agency for change.

3.

What participants learn:

  • Becoming aware of different futures and getting comfortable with the future.

  • Being able to communicate what they imagine in an engaging way

  • Sharing with other living beings and maybe get a change in attitude.

  • Realising how to create transformation

  • Playfullness and creative tasks that open up for experimentation and surprises

  • Working in groups, our participants get a cleare feeling with the living people around them. They will get each other in a new way, and collaborate around new things!

  • Getting intimate and creating empathy with other futures, worlds and people.

  • Getting basic knowledge around imagination and understanding of different tools to train that ability.

What participants say:

  • “The workshop provided me with the valuable insight that embracing playfulness and silliness can be a powerful tool, and even a silly action can convey significant meaning or impact.”

    — Participant from KAOSPILOT+ Berlin

  • "You put us in a position with people we didn't know very well, and you made us work really well together based on the guidelines you set. And as a result, we became better collaborators and friends. After that day, I felt like that was how we became friends in some way.”

    — Participant from KRAS

  • "What had the biggest impact from the course was worldbuilding. It gave me a better picture of what I want to contribute to. "

    — Participant from KAOSPILOT+ Berlin

  • "It gives me so much motivation when you can sense the idea so clearly. It is very tangible. We can just start making it now, and I thought that was really cool. What I take with me from the course is that good questions can help a lot."

    — Participant from KRAS