Events

We offer open and participatory events that showcase interdisciplinary work and impact and spark ideas, inspiration and debate. 

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Edinburgh Futures Conversations – A Watch Party

Room LG.11 - 40 George Square, The University of Edinburgh 40 George Square, Newington, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

This is an opportunity for the EFI and its extended community to come together and join a live viewing of the online panel in a casual and relaxed atmosphere and to extend into Digesting the Futures Conversations – a Long table discussion.

Digesting the Futures Conversations

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Our objective is to reflect on the Edinburgh Futures Conversations and create an open platform to share knowledge through conversation. Conceived by Lois Weaver, a Long Table is a dinner table setting where, instead of food, conversation is on the menu. Hosted in a physical space, it is a non-hierarchical process of participation where people ... Read more

Scottish BPOC Writers Network: First Breath – Artist reflections

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Join an evening of celebration as the Scottish Black and PoC (BPOC) Writers Network invites you to admire three brilliant Black artists and writers to read and present some of their work and practice. Expect poetry as well as more visual art forms, exuberant talent, and a candid discussion amongst panellists. The creatives have been ... Read more

Free

His Name is George Floyd

You know how he died. This is how he lived. A conversation with the authors of this intimate, scrupulous biography which places Floyd's life in the context of white supremacy. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with friends and family members, His Name Is George Floyd reveals the myriad ways that structural racism shaped Floyd's life ... Read more

Free

The New Real Salon: Exploring the future of AI and the arts

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Part of EFI’s inaugural event season, The New Real Gala will present international projects and practitioners, alongside highlights of our most recent research partnerships with artists and festivals. Leading contemporary AI artists, designers and scientists will explore the most transformative technologies out there and announce a major new programme on Next Generation Intelligent Experiences. The ... Read more

Free

Soroche: On Heights and Climates

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Soroche is the word used in Colombia to describe altitude sickness. In this multidisciplinary piece, combining text, music and imagery, writer Jessica Gaitan Johannesson and musician Stephanie Lamprea explore personal and collective history in relation to the country they share a connection with – Colombia. They are joined by musician Alistair MacDonald as they, through ... Read more

Free

Half-Earth Socialism: Ambitious speculation on possible futures

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Join a lively discussion with authors of the thrilling and provocative book, Half-Earth Socialism, as well as the designers who created a video game based on the book. The event will feature discussions and Q&A with the authors and designers, as well as a chance to explore the game! Half-Earth Socialism makes clear that while ... Read more

Free

Utopia Lab

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Utopia is a ‘no-space’ for contemplation, innovation and collaboration. The term utopia was coined from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island society in the Atlantic Ocean. The word comes from Greek: οὐ ("not") and τόπος ("place") and means "no-place", and strictly describes any non-existent society 'described in ... Read more

Free

EFI Student Photography Competition: The Future of Climate Justice

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Join us for a drink and delicious, celebratory treat as we reveal the winners of the Edinburgh Futures Institute's Student Photography Competition and view a selection of the submitted photographs. Professor Liz Grant, Assistant Principal (Global Health) and Director of the Global Health Academy at the University of Edinburgh, will announce the winners and speak ... Read more

Free

What My Body Can/t Remember

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Since 2014, Palestinian dancer and choreographer Farah Saleh has been creating an Archive of Gestures through the re-enactment, transformation, and analyses of bodily gestures and movements. In What My Body Can/t Remember, Saleh explores what her body can and can’t remember of her life in Ramallah in 2002 when, living under curfew, she returned to ... Read more

Free

Nomad Century: Gaia Vince in conversation with Elizabeth Cripps

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Author Gaia Vince draws attention to mass migration and climate change at a time when huge swathes of the world are becoming uninhabitable. ‘Gaia Vince's new book should be read not just by every politician, but by every person on the planet, because it lays out, much more clearly than any existing scientific assessment, the ... Read more

Free

Technomoral Conversations: Sustainability and Artificial Intelligence

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

What is the impact of AI on the planet? There are reasons to hope that data-driven efficiencies and insights can help produce innovative solutions to the climate emergency, touching areas such as energy, biodiversity monitoring and conservation, transportation, water conservation, and agriculture, among others. On the other hand, there are also real concerns about the ... Read more

Free

The Fight for Climate after Covid-19 – A Watch Party

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

This is an opportunity for the EFI and its extended community to come together and join a live viewing of the online event, 'The Fight for Climate after Covid-19: A conversation with Alice C. Hill' in a casual and relaxed atmosphere.

Free

An Island of Sound: J. R. Carpenter with Jules Rawlinson

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

From the classical period through the early modern, tales abounded of distant islands inhabited by demons, devils, evil spirits, and all manner of winged creatures. The Sirens lured sailors to shipwreck with singing voices. The sprite Ariel conjures up a storm. The stories we tell ourselves to make sense of wind. An Island of Sound ... Read more

Free

Edinburgh Futures Conversations – Shaping our AI Futures

Playfair Library Hall Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Hybrid Hybrid Event

This panel opens the fourth in the University’s Futures Conversations series on Artificial Intelligence. In this event, we bring together leading experts from the worlds of science, politics, and civil society to debate what our AI futures may bring, and to develop ideas for what is needed to advance our collective ability to put AI to the best possible use.

Free

Tell Me What You Want, What You Really, Really Want

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Hybrid Hybrid Event

In this panel, speakers will briefly showcase their work on the intersections of technology and sexuality. When we are repeatedly told who and what to desire by apps, platforms and websites the relationship between technology and sexuality feels impossible to escape. We might not know what we really, really want.

Free

Living with Robots

Playfair Library Hall Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Hybrid Hybrid Event

A panel discussion among experts on what it means to ‘live well’ with robots.

Free

Reimagining Universities: Speculative Scenarios for Higher Education

Bayes Centre, The University of Edinburgh, Room G.03 47 Potterrow, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Professors from the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh will share their speculative scenarios for Higher Education Futures in an event which will be a mix of research-sharing, storytelling and collaboration.

Free

LIMBIC: Ego, Elegy, Ecstasy

Inspace 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Hybrid Hybrid Event

This audio-visual performance by composer Philly Holmes responds to Limbic, a poetry collection by Peter Scalpello. Through words, sound and imagery, the performance traces a personal narrative exploring intimacy and queer discovery, enacting the confusions and graces of a queer life through hybridity of storytelling forms.

Free

Robotic Poems: A Writing Workshop with Lillian-Yvonne Bertram

Virtual Event Virtual Event

In this workshop, participants will learn basic coding elements to create a simple poem generator. The emphasis is on play and experimentation, with some background information on literary techniques. Participants will experience how computational poetics and computational thinking can jumpstart or become part of a creative writing process.  

Free

The Inquisitive Bodymind: Scottish Dance Theatre and Dr Marisa De Andrade

Traverse Bar, Traverse Theatre 10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

The multidisciplinary event will feature short performances by Scottish Dance Theatre’s dancers, including an excerpt from ‘Thin h/as h/air’ by choreographer Pauline Torzuoli. Inspired by the natural phenomena of Itla Okla and Hair Ice, this playful and poetic solo work follows the journey of a man: from scientist to the spirit of a tree.

Free

Watch recordings

Power trip event season event flyer

POWER TRIP

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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Love Machine event season digital flyer

Love machine

Our Spring 2023 programme of events explored the interconnections of AI and data with humanity through conversations, performances, and workshops.

Watch recordings
First Breath Autumn Event Season brand leader. Image of dandelion and umbrellas on orange background. Text reads: 'First Breath: Autumn Event Season'. Includes Edinburgh Futures Institute logo.

First Breath

Our Autumn 2022 programme featured more than 20 events exploring crisis, migration, displacement and equality coalescing around the theme of Climate Justice.

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"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

Meet the events team

Headshot of Alice Carr

Alice Carr

Events Co-ordinator
Headshot of Fraser Pringle

Fraser Pringle

Project & Events Administrator
Headshot of Ioannis Kalkounos

Ioannis Kalkounos

Programme Manager
Lewis Williams

Lewis Williams

Events Technician

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