Kassel Institute for Sustainability

This research contribution presents a conceptual and methodological framework that positions ‘place’ as a dynamic, co-produced process shaped through lived experience, memory, emotions, interaction, narratives and cultural meaning-making. In transformative research, particularly in landscapes with embedded social and ecological relationships, re-engaging with the notion of place, redefining it for a favorable future, and exploring its multi-layered presence provides a foundation for identifying context-relevant pathways for change and fostering a sense of empowerment and engagement among communities in the region. The research develops a participatory methodology centered on experimental spaces—purposefully designed environments that facilitate collaborative exploration of future prospects and enable envisioning. These spaces integrate artistic, narrative, and game-based elements into a coherent approach to scenario mapping, planning, and visioning. Rather than applying universal tools, the method emphasizes place-specific adaptation, enabling participants to engage meaningfully with site-based challenges and opportunities. The approach is grounded in co-design, ensuring that the experimental space reflects the social and cultural specificity of the place. Participants collectively generate and visualize alternative futures by drawing on local knowledge, memory, and values. Through activities such as collaborative drawing, storytelling, symbolic mapping, and role-based interaction, the process facilitates the articulation of diverse perspectives and the emergence of shared visions. Experimental spaces serve both as a framework for research and as a facilitation method that enables communities to navigate complexity and uncertainty. These structured yet flexible participatory environments enable situated dialogue and embodied reflection, encouraging participants to reimagine their relationship with place and explore potential directions for transformation. The method contributes to research on cultural ecosystem services (CES) and biocultural heritage by addressing a critical gap: the need for approaches that can access and represent intangible, relational, and symbolic dimensions of human–environment connections. It provides a practical and replicable pathway for co-producing knowledge that is grounded in both cultural specificity and collective foresight. These contexts illustrate how dominant narratives may obscure or simplify local values and practices. By creating experimental spaces in such regions, the method supports communities in reclaiming agency, revealing alternative place-based narratives, and defining locally relevant resilience pathways. The method will be demonstrated during the conference through an interactive format. Participants will engage with selected components of the process and reflect on its potential to support participatory scenario development, cultural resilience, and inclusive governance. This contribution builds on current debates in CES and biocultural heritage by proposing a method that operationalizes the transformative potential of place. It offers researchers and practitioners a means to facilitate community-led visioning, support inclusive dialogue, and integrate creative engagement in sustainability research and practice.