Alpine Futures

This is a course Julian has developed and led at the Technical University of Munich.

At a time when environments are increasingly threatened, extremes are becoming the norm rather than the exception. This requires a shift in thinking, methodology, and approach to design and organisation—based on local specificity, understanding of culture, individual challenges, and potentials through collaboration and innovation.

In response, Impact for Future and Extreme Environments (IFF EE) offers Master's students the opportunity to learn how to make a positive impact on our challenged world through field research, hands-on experimentation, creative artistic exploration, and consideration of local site conditions and culture. With its highly site-specific approach, IFF EE enables students to respond to current and future global challenges by engaging with environments that are particularly affected by emerging phenomena related to climate change, biodiversity loss, urbanisation, and more.

IFF EE is divided into two semester modules (Module 1: “Researching worlds to come in the Alps through a Design Anthropological lens”; Module 2: “Exploring alternative worlds in the Alps using Speculative methods) that are being contrasted and practically applied with regards to the development of impact-oriented innovations.

IFF EE’s focus and fieldwork is taking place in the Alps, in close collaboration with experts from partnering organizations such as the German Alpine Association (DAV), The Himalayan Institute of Alternatives (HIAL), Germany’s Federal Environment Agency (FEA) as well as a variety of experts from research and practice. Due to its strong transdisciplinary approach, Master's students from all disciplines are encouraged to participate in the program, including design and architecture, engineering, the social sciences, and business. Each modules gives students the chance to earn 6 ECTS.