Parallel Presents is a participatory and creative methodology for creating positive visions of sustainable worlds that can be used in diverse settings to generate fresh ideas and a shared sense of hope and possibility.

The Parallel Presents methodology can be applied to any sphere of everyday life, such as food, transport, housing, energy and clothing. It can be used to envision an overall system or to focus on a particular locality or organisation.

In order to support the open generation of diverse and radical ideas, the speculation is based on the premise of present-day parallel worlds, rather than real-world futures – hence ‘Parallel Presents’.

Parallel Presents has been developed by Dr Amy Twigger Holroyd, Associate Professor of Fashion and Sustainability at Nottingham School of Art & Design, primarily via her Fashion Fictions project, which brings people together to imagine, explore and enact sustainable fashion systems. Fashion Fictions has engaged more than 5000 people via more than 120 activities in diverse settings spanning six continents.

The Parallel Presents methodology has been successfully translated to various other areas of focus, from topics such as food, media and housing to specific contexts such as multi-stakeholder workshops generating positive visions for the visual arts sector in Somerset and the garment sector in Leicester.
The methodology can be customised to suit different settings, with consideration for duration, participant positionality and intended outcomes.