This Major Research Project investigates grief as a systemic infrastructure that might shape whether institutions adapt, fracture, or renew. Through an integrative review across biology, psychology, culture, and systems theory, combined with reflective practice and case vignettes, I develop a Grief-Informed Futures + Design framework and a six-step PACER (Pace, Affect, Culture, Ecology, Resilience), process that could guide practitioners from sensing signals of loss to testing proportionate responses in policy, services, products, and places. The project asks: How might grief be treated as systemic infrastructure in design and foresight so that institutions metabolize, rather than suppress, loss. Findings suggest that grief-informed methods may strengthen legitimacy, reduce downstream costs, and improve trust and safety for people and more-than-human communities. The contribution would be a shared vocabulary, operational tools, and testable hypotheses for designers, policymakers, and community partners. I close with limits, ethical safeguards, and a research agenda that could enable empirical evaluation and co-development with affected communities.