This study proposes that the DesignShop process, a well-established innovation method in which the author is an experienced practitioner, might serve as the foundation for a practice of Collaborative Sustainable Innovation Design.

By simultaneously exploring the DesignShop methodology and enhancing the Strategic Foresight aspects of DesignShop, 3 questions are addressed: In what ways might the DesignShop process be made more effective by the integration of alternative futures based strategic foresight?; In the context of the broad field of innovation design, what is different or unique about the DesignShop approach?, and; How might the DesignShop process be used to develop a collaborative approach to foresight?

A literature review explores contemporary perspectives on complexity and wickedness, strategic foresight, and two different methodological context lenses: that of Innovation Methods, and; Dialogic Organizational Design and Large Group Interventions. A detailed summary of the DesignShop approach is provided.

The research questions are explored through a real-world case study DesignShop engagement. A series of conjectures describing what makes DesignShop work, and what makes it different from the methods in parallel niches, are proposed. A proof-of-concept exploration of the integration of enhanced foresight into DesignShop is also explored, and a model for DesignShop-based collaborative foresight is proposed.

The research might contribute to innovation design and foresight discourses in several ways, including: improved Strategic Foresight through the use of DesignShop techniques; improved innovation design, especially that of DesignShop practitioners; the opportunity to bring DesignShop to the attention of scholars, which may be of particularly significant value, and; to help lay a foundation for best-of-breed practices of innovation design.