We participate in Doors Open Days Scotland every September, the largest free festival that celebrates places and stories, new and old.
On these days, we invite the public to visit us in our building to discover how Edinburgh Futures Institute creatively brings together people, disciplines and perspectives under one roof to develop innovative and data-driven solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges.
Doors Open Day 2025
We were delighted to welcome 1,500 visitors to Edinburgh Futures Institute during Doors Open Days 2025.
Visitors of all ages explored our fascinating historic building and took part in a programme of exciting activities run by our students, staff, researchers and members of our unique ecosystem of organisational partners and members.
Highlights include:
- A snapshot of our ecosystem — a marketplace of 18 organisations representing EFI’s diverse community and our work across the Creative Industries, Public Services, Financial Services & Fintech, Travel, Tourism and Festivals and Data Services sectors
- A drop-in display of historical materials from the Lothian Health Services Archive with the opportunity to meet the university staff team responsible for caring for the archive and members of The Pelican League – former members of staff who trained and worked as nurses at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
- Guided tours of the building
- Screenings of beautiful evocative documentary films created by individuals and communities from across Scotland about the issues they face in their daily lives in partnership with Media Education
- An introduction to futures thinking for children and their grown-ups led by our Futures and Design team — a fun hands-on experience exploring how emerging technologies might transform our world.
