Josie Chambers

Josie Chambers is an Assistant Professor in the Urban Futures Studio at the Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development. Her research explores how critical and artistic approaches can challenge notions of “inevitable” unjust futures. She does this in collaboration with diverse societal actors, such as in the African Urban Futures project, and shares her insights in the blog Utopian Pulses—experiments in social dreaming. Recent publications include 10x10: Liberating the Imagination (Chambers and Hajer 2026) and Utopia*Art*Politics (Chambers 2025). Josie also uses creative pedagogy to transform the classroom, leading to student-led exhibitions, theatrical events, zines, and anthologies. Before joining Utrecht University, Josie completed a PhD and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge and worked for two years as a postdoctoral researcher at Wageningen University on strengthening the transformative role of research in society.