Ecosystem of the future: A case study on a participatory installation for exploring social representations of sustainability within a university community

Background Universities are increasingly recognized as important settings for promoting sustainability engagement and collective reflection on environmental futures. This case study describes and analyses Ecosystem of the Future – Voices, Emotions, and Perspectives on a Sustainable World , a participatory sustainability installation developed during the annual Psychology Conference at Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal. The initiative aimed to explore how members of the academic community represent sustainability, environmental challenges, and technological futures through a collective, emotionally grounded participatory activity. Methods Grounded in Participatory Action Research, Social Representations Theory, and environmental psychology, the intervention consisted of a public participatory mural where students and faculty members anonymously contributed written reflections in response to four thematic prompts addressing hope, fear, action, and future technologies related to sustainability. A total of 136 Post-it notes, generating 182 codable units, were analysed using inductive content analysis. Temporal observational analyses based on time-lapse recordings were also conducted to examine participation dynamics throughout the intervention. Results The findings revealed the predominance of fear-related representations associated with sociopolitical instability, ecological crisis, and dehumanization, while hope-related responses emphasized collective awareness, social transformation, and technological innovation. Action-oriented contributions were more elaborated than those in other domains, whereas future-oriented reflections became more prominent during the later stages of participation. Temporal analyses suggested evolving patterns of engagement throughout the intervention. Conclusions The study demonstrates the potential of participatory installations to foster sustainability awareness, stimulate community dialogue, and generate meaningful psychosocial insights into environmental futures within higher education settings. More broadly, the findings support the use of interactive public interventions as accessible tools for promoting collective reflection, emotional engagement, and sustainability communication in academic communities.