Urban mobility is facing an increased long-term uncertainty and complexity generated by accelerated technological development. These challenges require radical advancement in planning processes and methods, which could enable breaking out of path dependencies and unlocking alternative, sustainable futures. In order to provide a landscape overview of foresight-focused methods used in the domain of urban mobility, we conduct a systematic literature review. An analytical framework for review is based on planning knowledge taxonomy, including dialectic between knowing how/what and knowing to what end and doing. Such framework formulation is aiming to assess methodological capacity for widening system boundary and holism (object-focus) as well as integration and imagination (process-focus). Results show that the overall trend of methodological development is emphasizing development in object or process-focus domain, but rarely both. In addition to this assessment, we conclude that methodological development should further reflect the moral and democratic dimension concerning public deliberation. Such development should aim to create spaces for shared discussion, reflection, and formation of alternative futures, while allowing spaces for agonistic contestation and conflicting opinions through radical, experimental, and experiential approaches.

Engaging young people in participatory design can be challenging, particularly in health-related projects. In a study co-designing diabetes support and information services with teenagers, we found framing activities using popular culture was a useful strategy. Various cultural references helped us stage activities that were productive for the design process, and were engaging for our young participants (e.g. exploring practical implications through discussions in a ‘Dragons’ Den’). Some activities were more effective than others and the idea of language-games, which has been widely explored in participatory design, explains why our strategy was successful when there was a clear ‘family resemblance’ between the popular cultural references and certain essential stages of designing. However, attention is required in selecting appropriate cultural references if this strategy is adopted elsewhere, and design facilitators should focus first on devising accessible language-games, rather than expecting popular cultural references to provide complete solutions to the challenge of staging participatory design.

This paper investigates the role of empathy and the use of service design tools in the context of (governmental) systems and organisational services. The discourse focuses on three areas: intercultural empathy, the empathising process and empathic design tools. The paper first reviews what empathy is and how it has been discussed in design. Secondly, a practical example of a complex design context is presented, an interactive platform for governmental immigration services. To best acknowledge the perspective of one, i.e. an individual in the whole, this example proposes that a combination of different design tools can systematically be applied, to foster perspective changes and to facilitate in zooming in and out from the individual to systemic levels.

Traditional user-centred design methodologies are no longer adequate for addressing the new way of thinking required by today's global challenges, considering the systemic complexity that service design has now reached. This paper addresses how a systemic approach can support service design practices to understand, map and represent complex challenges such as rural fires. The research methods include a systemic design approach that provides an in-depth view of the system and the institutional structure by identifying the actors and their relationships and unpacking the current issues. Moreover, this paper identifies intervention areas and suggests recommendations: more involvement and collaboration between the different actors and the fire prevention system can prevent and mitigate the risks of rural fires more efficiently. The study indicates that service design can benefit from a systemic approach by investigating the actors, roles, and interdependencies and identifying challenges and strategic intervention areas in complex systems.