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This project is about designing for alternative public engagementin infrastructure projects that span over longtime scales and long distances: Looking specifically atthe case of the North Bothnia Line – a train line plannedbetween the two northern Swedish cities of Umeå andLuleå, 270 km apart, which could be estimated to befinished around 2040.

With a participatory design approach, I investigate thescope of the infrastructure project – the different stakeholdersand examples of current public engagement efforts.I then explore how to facilitate dialogues on futurelife and mobility in the north in alternative ways.

In my initial research I seek a systemic understandingof the project from public employees in city planning,project management and communication.

Through interviews, field explorations, design probesand workshops, I identify a set of qualities that characterisethis particular project – to design for and with:Future anticipation, temporal uncertainty, and situatedhuman experiences. These qualities are used to create aframework for prototyping interactions to facilitate dialoguesaround expectations around future life, and howto engage people in discussing this now.

Synthesizing from insights, ideas, and interactionsexplored in an iterative design process, I develop aconceptual platform and digital service design. Thedesign I eventually set out to create is a conceptualpublic engagement platform for infrastructure projectsspanning long distances and uncertain timeframes.Enabling a space for open anticipation in the regions ofVästerbotten and Norrbotten, and working with aspectsand metaphors of celebration, longing, and collectiveplanning and dialogues.