Taking into account dominant Ameri-European thoughts and practices that have shaped our past, and inform our present - as the only way of exploring futures, this major research project explores the role of the language of design in strategic foresight by inquiring into the future of the water crisis in Bangalore, Karnataka through its network of ancient Tank irrigation.
The examination of non-western approaches, and knowledge around water through oral storytelling and myths, religion, policy, local practices, and the impact of colonialism highlights the gaps in current practices, and interventions being proposed for the water crisis in Bangalore to understand how much of it is being informed by colonial frameworks, and how might the language used in design, inform the language of design.
The research includes a collection of narratives, and, the remnants of colonialism in the current design practices around the Tanks in Bangalore, and how design interventions are controlled by the language that creates it. For example, current solutions to its water crisis are based on the ‘Western’ language of lakes, instead of the local language of ‘Tanks’. Finally, it provides an insight into the importance of the ‘local’ and ‘traditional’ in foresight practices, and why focusing on the colonial language cannot decolonize futures. It also looks at a foresight method in a critical lens, to assess its use in a non-western setting.