We plan to design and develop several tools as part of our ambitions under the Academy stream of work. While we are still in early stages of production, we have been experimenting with some of the following ideas.

These tools would simultaneously allow the participants to express their imaginations in a recordable manner as well as enable rich discourse and collaboration.

The interactions will be recorded as video, and available for review with a quick turn-around time - enabling participants to see the film coming to life as they work.

The tools we plan to use are:

• Worlds: This is a physical modelling setup with ‘Lego’- like blocks which are custom designed to construct a model of Natural Farming on a table top. Participants will collaboratively assemble their vision in a facilitated session. This ‘World’ is actually composed of multiple ‘realms’ on multiple table tops, each with pieces designed to represent a particular aspect of the vision at the appropriate scale. For example, one might look at an entire district from a cropping pattern perspective, while another may look at the microeconomics of an individual farm. Each setup will have a camera mounted on it, capturing the model as it evolves. This video, played back as a time-lapse, will be used to produce a video artefact.
• Worlds online: Sensome, an online tool that creates an immersive 3D environment which enables participants to jointly explore a complex system from different vantage points. This tool will allow participants to ‘see’ what they are discussing represented as a 3D model, as well as data visualizations that can act as ‘honest brokers of truth’. The tool will then allow participants to capture their positions as annotated ‘keyframes’ which best represent their knowledge, beliefs, and alignment with each other.
• Video Sketch notes: As the participants interact, a sketch note artist will also be interpreting their interactions as sketches. This process will also be recorded on camera to capture the collective imagining of the participants. The sped-up time-lapse footage of the creation of these sketches will be the output of this tool.
• Video Journals: The participants will also be able to directly record their evolving imaginations and opinions as video journals that will be regularly recorded throughout the workshop. These journals will capture the evolution of each participant throughout the workshop.
• The Vision: The final vision arrived at by the participants will be expressed as a video which will be produced using the footage generated from the above tools, edited together to capture the collaborative imaginations of the participants. This video is meant to be a vivid representation of a collective imagination, as well as a narrative on how that imagination can be achieved (example).