We offer open and participatory events that showcase interdisciplinary work and impact and spark ideas, inspiration and debate.
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A preview dance performance featuring University of Edinburgh dance students and cutting edge robotic technology.
A live performance featuring new poetry from Kathleen Jamie and music created by AI from live drawings by Kate Steenhauer.
TJ Billard offers an insider’s view into transgender activism during the first two years of the first Trump administration.
Comedian Fern Brady joins Michael Pedersen to talk creativity, comedy and books.
A panel event celebrating the creation of the Edinburgh Seven Tapestry.
A workshop series on the skills needed by creatives in the current technological landscape, in partnership with Adobe.
For Freelancers
A panel event on the mechanisms of exclusion in cultural work and how they are mirrored in other national and policy contexts
A workshop series on the skills needed by creatives in the current technological landscape, in partnership with Adobe.
For students and early career practitioners
Join us to celebrate Oliver Escobar's professorship at his inaugural lecture.
A workshop series on the skills needed by creatives in the current technological landscape, in partnership with Adobe.
For in-house professionals (including those working in creative agencies, studios, and teams)
A conversation about the role of AI in creative practice and culture.
A workshop series on the skills needed by creatives in the current technological landscape, in partnership with Adobe.
For creative managers and leaders
An international premiere dance performance using smart home technology on a theatrical scale.
The latest in the Utopia Lab workshop series, which invites participants to share visions of utopias.
Life on Earth is changing; the question is, can we change with it? Can we remake the world to be fit for all life to thrive once more? In his new book Nature's Genuis: Evolution's Lessons for a Changing World, Professor David Farrier takes us on a profound journey into this ever-changing natural world, encouraging ... Read more
The third iteration of the New Real Salon, introducing their new initiative, Doing AI Differently.
Many of the artists that we encounter are completely unaware of the mathematics that bubble beneath their craft, while some consciously use it for inspiration. Our instincts might tell us that these two subjects are incompatible forces with nothing in common – mathematics being the realm of precise logic and art being the realm of ... Read more
Our Autumn 2024 programme of events explored the future of education through panel discussions, poetry readings, live music and performance, and deep intellectual debate and discussion.
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Our Autumn 2023 programme of events explored leadership in all its forms – from the seats of power to the front lines of activist movements and even in our own workplaces.
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Our Spring 2023 programme of events explored the interconnections of AI and data with humanity through conversations, performances, and workshops.
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Our Autumn 2022 programme featured more than 20 events exploring crisis, migration, displacement and equality coalescing around the theme of Climate Justice.
Watch recordings"The production and intellectual content of your recent events has been fantastic! Thank you for the opportunity to attend and learn. This is probably the best event I have been to all year."
Event attendee, Love Machine Spring 2023
"Really, really impressed with Futures Institute events. Properly impressive speakers, and seamless technical management. Thank you for keeping them hybrid/online – it's a really nice way to keep in touch!"
Event attendee, Love Machine Spring 2023
"Amazing! I hope that Utopia Lab can ring in every event season, the dream space that you curate and allow to flourish is an important and novel lens that Edinburgh Futures Institute offers partners, students, staff, researchers and anyone with an interest in collaborative thinking and doing."
Event attendee, Love Machine Spring 2023
Our public events seasons are co-created with people from across the University of Edinburgh. If you'd like to contribute ideas for the programme please contact the events team.
Call for proposals
Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) building, The University of Edinburgh, 1 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, EH3 9EF
*Deliveries via West Entrance on Nightingale Way.
Email: efi@ed.ac.uk
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336, VAT Registration Number GB 592 9507 00, and is acknowledged by the UK authorities as a “Recognised body” which has been granted degree awarding powers.
Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all material is copyright © The University of Edinburgh 2021.
![Georgia Gardner, Still from Body Memo (2023). The image shows a person in black shorts and white socks lying on the floor next to a stool. Text to the right reads: "67 BPM. They Move in Three Second Phrases. Glowing, Precarious. They [Are] Move(d) in Three Second Phrases. Partial, Uncertain.](https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Georgia-Gardner-body-memo-and-tmitspg-still-scaled.jpg "Georgia Gardner Body Memo And Tmitspg Still")
