Design fiction does not live only in museums and universities. Increasingly it enters public consultations, policy processes, community debates and institutional initiatives. Why? Because artefacts make otherwise abstract futures discussable — and involve those who normally do not read hundreds-page reports.
In policy, scenarios and diegetic prototypes can fuel consultations: instead of asking "what do you think of the urban plan?", ask "how would you live in a neighbourhood with these rules?". The UK Government Office for Science has used speculative approaches to explore demographic and technological futures. UNDP and other international agencies integrate design fiction into development and resilience programmes.
At community level, design fiction can give voice to those excluded from decision-making. A lab with neighbourhood residents to imagine the future of public space produces different material from a masterplan written only by technicians. Co-designing scenarios with elders, migrants, youth or precarious workers makes often-ignored perspectives visible. The goal is not to replace representative democracy, but to enrich it with participatory imagination.
Institutions — municipalities, regions, public bodies — can use design fiction to anticipate tensions and test reactions. A catalogue of "public services in 2035" or a role-play on a health crisis can reveal hidden assumptions before they become policy. Caution: institutions have interests and constraints. A lab facilitated by those with decision-making power requires transparency on goals and limits — and space to dissent.
Public debate benefits from concrete artefacts. A newspaper article from the future, a fictional user manual, a catalogue page can enter media, social and political conversations in ways a report cannot. NextHuman, Relatronica's project, uses visualisations and scenarios to stimulate awareness and action — every scenario is an invitation to reflect, discuss and act responsibly.
For real civic impact, always connect the lab to existing processes: an ongoing consultation, a citizens' committee, a campaign. Lab outputs — catalogues, prototypes, scenarios — must have a recipient and a channel. Otherwise they remain creative exercises without consequences. Civic design fiction is effective when it produces material someone will actually use.