Techniques. Future workshops. The Future Workshop method was originally developed in the 1970s as a tool for social action and citizen empowerment. These days, the method is being used in all kinds of change processes, including briefing processes for buildings. The methods strength is that it actively engages the participants in the identification of problems and pushes them to think innovatively about possible solutions. A classic future workshop consists of three phases: a critique phase, a utopia phase and a solution phase. The critique phase is the start of the workshop. The workshops participants are asked to make a critical examination of the existing accommodation situation. What are the current buildings good and bad points? What problems need to be solved? What features are missing or suboptimal? What qualities should be retained?In the subsequent utopia phase, the participants are asked to think about the future situation and their ideal accommodation solution. This phase should be without constraintsthe participants are allowed, or even encouraged, to develop utopian, weird, visionary, exaggerated ideas. What kind of building do they dream of? What would they build if there were no practical or financial limits whatsoever? The objective of this phase is to stimulate creative thinking and to uncover peoples wishes and ideals.In the third and last phase, the workshop participants have to come back down to earth and look at the extent to which their ideas will be able to solve the problems that have been identified in the first phase. The participants pick and choose the most relevant and promising ideas and discuss how ideas can be transformed and translated into practical solutions, which can then serve as input for the brief. To turn this kind of workshop into a success, the facilitators need to strike a balance between blue sky brainstormingwhich may produce lots of wild and unexpected ideasand a more mundane kind of realism aimed at ensuring that the ideas produced are feasible within the constraints of the project. Recommendations-Take enough time: a future workshop can be done in a day, but it is a good idea to spread it out over several days. That gives participants more time to develop their thoughts and it provides the opportunity to alternate the sessions with project visits and lectures from experts.-Get a proper workshop space: not an ordinary conference room, but a room that is flexible (allowing for group work) and inspirational in its design.-Select the workshop participants carefully: include both traditionalists and innovators to make sure that all voices are represented. -Be aware that future workshops can produce unexpected results and that the participants will strongly identify with these ideas. The projects leadership should be willing to take these results into serious consideration.-Make sure the workshop takes place in the very early stages of the project when there is still room to accommodate unexpected ideas.