Designing hope: Civil society, empathy and peace, or avoiding World War III

Philip Ely; Ilpo Koskinen; Shelley McNulty; Brian Dixon

doi:10.21606/drs.2026.1230

Designing hope: Civil society, empathy and peace, or avoiding World War III

Philip Ely
, Ilpo Koskinen
, Shelley McNulty
, Brian Dixon

Manchester Metropolitan University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

6 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

In the face of widespread global conflict, this paper explores emergent work on empathic design for peace. We draw on award-winning theory and practice within peace studies and previous work on empathic design to develop a theoretical framework for the practical application of design methods, and illustrate this framework by showing how an analysis of a novel—in this paper, Milkman by Anna Burns (2018)—can lead to a multi-scalar approach to civil society-led peacebuilding which can inform future public sector and policy design work. We view this as a form of ‘literary design fiction’—that can harness the positional difference of conflict adversaries found in literary fiction—which can be applied to processes of designing and which can shape peacebuilding efforts in conflict and post-conflict zones.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	DRS Conference Proceedings
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1230
Publication status	Published online - 8 Jun 2026
Event	DRS 2026: Design Research Society Conference 2026 - Edinburgh, United Kingdom Duration: 8 Jun 2026 → 12 Jun 2026 https://www.designresearchsociety.org/articles/drs2026edinburgh

Publication series

Name	DRS Conference Proceedings
Publisher	Design Research Society
ISSN (Print)	2398-3132

Conference

Conference	DRS 2026
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Edinburgh
Period	8/06/26 → 12/06/26
Internet address	https://www.designresearchsociety.org/articles/drs2026edinburgh

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026, Design Research Society. All rights reserved.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Keywords

peace studies
civil society
empathic design
literary design fiction

Access to Document

10.21606/drs.2026.1230Licence: CC BY-NC

Designing hope_ Civil society empathy and peace or avoiding WorFinal published version, 428 KB

Cite this

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KW - civil society

KW - empathic design

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Designing hope: Civil society, empathy and peace, or avoiding World War III

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this