Backcasting as a design device

This case study examines the use of participatory design and backcasting to support grassroots transformational change regarding energy access in a rural Kenyan community.

• The authors employed backcasting to co-design a 10-year transition roadmap for electric cooking with 30 members of a rural community in Kenya. This roadmap defines a local vision for a long-term development process and the community's specific role within it.
• Follow-up interviews indicated that participating in the workshops was connected to subsequent community actions at the grassroots level.
• The study addresses the tension between the need for local agency and long-term planning for transformative change versus the short-term thinking and top-down technological solutions typically found in development programmes.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2022). Backcasting as a design device. https://www.sei.org/publications/backcasting-as-a-design-device/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Backcasting as a design device. 2022. https://www.sei.org/publications/backcasting-as-a-design-device/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Backcasting as a design device |date=29 August 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/backcasting-as-a-design-device/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2022backcasting, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Backcasting as a design device}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = aug, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/backcasting-as-a-design-device/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }