Innovation and Future Thinking | © Proyecto:  Waiting Journey. Estudiante:  Emma Krejberg Bak

Language

English

Start date

July 2026

Frequency

Part-time

Fruition

On campus

Duration

2 Weeks

Develop strategic thinking to acquire foresight; comprehend, plan and create solutions in a context of rapid and constant change.

 

In this Summer Course in Innovation and Future Thinking, you’ll be detecting signs of change, organising ideas into comprehensible models, finding new ways to assess possible futures, identifying potential barriers and opportunities, designing innovative ideas, products and services.

This course, taught in English, focuses on the strategic, innovative and creative aspects of future thinking. You’ll start with data collection and modelling, explore and adopt narrative development, strategic foresight, prototyping, and find out how to effectively inform users about new products and services. This new know-how will be put to good use in the form of a final project providing solutions for the problems found.

 

Information to decide

A course, taught in English, to acquire the methodologies and tools you need to identify and evaluate signs of change, proposing innovative solutions for future thinking.

 

Starting from the question, "Why think about the future?" you’ll discover the fundamental concepts of futuring from a theoretical perspective. In this first part of the course you’ll focus on trend identification and analysis, watching out for weak signs and macro trends. This phase is characterised by an observational analysis of urban environments.

The focus then shifts to creating scenarios, roadmaps and timelines, using retrospection and creative ideas to develop new narratives. Futurists, innovators and designers will show us how to use these techniques to put theory into practice.

You’ll study innovation practices and processes and see how they’re used by both major companies and start-ups.

To finish the course in style you’ll develop a final project to provide long-term solutions for the problems found.

The Summer Course in Innovation and Future Thinking is for students and professionals from a variety of fields and backgrounds with one thing in common: a healthy interest in innovation and creative thinking.

People looking for new ways to create products, services and business concepts will find the course both interesting and useful with its mix of strategic business vision and product design development.

If you want to combine creative skills with a rigorous approach to thinking, this course is a great place to start.

In this course you’ll develop new forecasting skills and acquire the techniques and tools you need to detect change, as well as an understanding of the dynamics of change in modern society.

 

After this course you’ll be developing concepts, services and products with greater foresight and a strategic new look. You’ll also consolidate your teamwork skills and share ideas using sector-specific language. 

It’s a course, taught in English, with a strong international focus for students from a wide range of backgrounds and a variety of profiles that is sure to enrich your learning experience.

You’ll be studying in Barcelona, a benchmark in the world of design and innovation. Two weeks in a city that leads the field in terms of observational analysis. The city itself will be your case study as you search for and find indicators, behaviours, messages and signs for predicting change. 

Syllabus

LEARNING PHASE

CONNECTION PHASE

CREATION PHASE

Faculty

Course Leader

John Willshire

Strategic designer and futures expert

Course Leader

Toban Shadlyn

Strategic designer and systems change catalyst

Teacher

Christa Bifano

Designer, educator, researcher

Teacher

Manuela Procopio

Service Designer and Digital Design Specialist

News

15 December 2025

Solutions to boost the circular economy in the automotive industry and regenerate ecosystems by uniting science, creativity, and technology

Students from IED Barcelona, UPC and Esade together with SEAT and MAD Travel–Ateneu de Manila University have developed innovative proposals for recycling and extending the life of vehicles and monitoring systems in favor of sustainable rural development in the Philippines.

Tres premios a Alumni y estudiantes IED Madrid durante el mes de noviembre: Premio Nacional de Innovacion, Frame Awards & Premio Antalia Decora

28 November 2025

Three awards for IED Madrid alumni and students in November: National Innovation Award, Frame Awards & Antalia Decora

Federico Sáinz de Robles wins the National Innovation Award with his brand Sepiia, while Lucas Muñoz receives the FRAME Editor's Pick mention for his COLAB project for Sancal and Jacobo López del Hierro Llopis wins third prize at Antalia Decora

27 November 2025

Paula Garrote, IED Madrid Alumni. The experience of being the winner of a Francesco Morelli scholarship

Paula Garrote has been awarded with this scholarship to continue developing her final degree project, Órtesis Urbanas

Tercer Premio Antalia Decora y mención especial a la funcionalidad y diseño para Matriz, del estudiante Jacobo López del Hierro del IED Madrid

25 November 2025

Third Prize Antalia Decora and special mention for functionality and design for Matriz, by student Jacobo López del Hierro from IED Madrid

In addition to this award, student Lilia Cherradi was one of the finalists in the V edition of these awards

21 November 2025

FRAME Editor's Pick Award for COLAB by Sancal, a project by IED Madrid alumnus Lucas Muñoz

An award that seeks to recognise the project that best represents the values of innovation, sustainability and critical thinking.

06 November 2025

Casa IED opens in New York: a new space for design culture and creative exchange

In Williamsburg, the creative heart of New York, Casa IED has opened as the first of the spaces that IED will dedicate to cultural exchange and collaborative design.

05 November 2025

Call for two 50% scholarships for the Master in Strategic Design Management at IED Barcelona

Application deadline: 20 November 2025, 11:59 p.m. (GMT+1). 

A group of people at the opening of a design exhibition

14 October 2025

IED celebrates creativity and optimistic design at Barcelona Design Week

CREATIVE OPTIMISM, an exhibition filled with positive attitude and enthusiastic pieces originating from international projects within the Istituto Europeo di Design network, was inaugurated on 8 October at IED Barcelona.

Zenithal plane of the courtyard of an educational center with students

22 September 2025

IED Barcelona kicks off its undergraduate programmes with more than 200 students from 62 nationalities

On 15 September, IED Barcelona inaugurated the 2025-2026 academic year by holding a Welcome Event for the new generation of creatives and designers on its undergraduate programmes.