The Design Futures Art-driven (DFA) Method: Structuring Art-Tech Collaboration for Sustainable Future of Food System

Abstract: The contemporary food system is among the most environmentally damaging sectors, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and sustainability challenges. A fundamental transformation across production, consumption, and waste management is urgently needed to ensure both human and planetary wellbeing. While technology and corporate innovation play crucial roles, growing attention is being paid to artists for their capacity to foster reflection, imagination, and transformative thinking. However, structured methods to guide and scale Art–Tech collaboration remain limited (Schnugg & Song, 2020). The Horizon Europe MUSAE project addresses this gap through the MUSAE Factory Model, a structured approach for future-driven innovation based on the Design Futures Art-driven (DFA) method. Integrating Futures Thinking, Design Thinking, and Art Thinking, the DFA method enables artists, designers, and SMEs to explore preferable futures and develop prototypes using emerging technologies. This article presents results from two art–tech residencies under the theme of Food as Medicine. In the first, 12 artists created visionary scenarios reimagining food practices for human and planetary health. In the second, 11 artist–SME teams translated selected scenarios into future-oriented prototypes (TRL5). Starting from shared values rather than predefined problems fostered systemic perspectives, stakeholder alignment, and the translation of future visions into actionable innovations. Findings show that structured art–tech collaborations based on the DFA method can accelerate ethical and sustainable technological innovation by generating future scenarios that inspire industrial practices and fostering early alignment between SMEs and creatives through guided facilitation. Projects like SOIL, Growing Futures, BITZ demonstrate the DFA method’s ability to produce diverse results based on future visions while integrating ethical and emotional dimensions often absent from traditional R&D. Overall, the MUSAE Factory Model, rooted in the DFA method, illustrates how structured, futures-oriented collaborations between art and technology can align innovation with human values, sustainability goals, and cultural meaning.

Keywords: Design futures, Art-tech collaboration, Food innovation, Future-driven innovation

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1006821

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