Architects of Change at the Festival of Tomorrow
Future Island-Island’s Architects of Change project recently headed to Swindon to take part in the Festival of Tomorrow Schools Programme on 9-10 February 2026.
Over two inspiring days, our team delivered four “Extraordinary Sparks: Kids Design Workshop” sessions, engaging 221 primary school children in hands‑on creativity and problem‑solving.
Using The Extraordinaires (Creative Commons Licence) as imaginative prompts, pupils designed their own board games exploring key environmental themes such as Ocean Health, Animal Habitats, and Land Pollution. This playful approach helped children engage with complex challenges in a fun, accessible way.
Across the 90‑minute workshops, children crafted and pitched their game ideas using design‑thinking principles, resulting in 58 uniquely created games, from puzzle adventures to combat and timed challenges. 🎲✨
We had a selection of fantastic games:
- Saver of the Extinct – a timed-game where a Spy and a Time Traveller must work together to collect 7 gems from all 7 continents to save animals from being hunted by poachers.
- Another game had a Robot named Timmy Tough Knuckles 9000 who is tasked with completing 10 quests to save the world from being a wasteland, all the while defeating bosses that get more difficult as you move through the game levels.
- And a trivia game called Parrots and Pirates where you play as a Pirate who must travel the seven seas collecting plastic waste: the pirate with the most plastic collected wins the game!
A huge thank you to Rory O’Connor, Creative Director at Hub Games, whose expertise enriched the workshops and highlighted the power of design-led creativity in helping young people understand abstract and difficult environmental topics.
Brilliant ideas. Big imaginations. All made possible by Future Island-Island.
💡🌍