Creative Futures in Education: Building ‘Imagination Infrastructures’ for Microbiology and Beyond

Education is often reduced to the transmission of knowledge, yet in an era of climate disruption, biodiversity decline, and social injustice and unrest, learners require more than facts and skills. They must develop adaptive capacities that enable them to question, critically analyse, imagine, act, and empathise. One such fundamental capacity is imagination, which, despite its centrality to scientific discovery, is frequently undervalued in science education, particularly in fields considered ‘hard’ sciences. Microbiology offers a compelling context for better cultivating imagination because its study requires learners to visualise invisible worlds, connect them to ecological and human health, and explore how such knowledge might be applied to societal challenges. Here, we discuss the concept of imagination infrastructures—the environments, tools, practices, inner capacities, and symbolic resources that enable collective imagination—as a framework for better embedding imagination into microbiology education and beyond. We illustrate how imagination infrastructures can help democratise learning, expand worldviews, and promote a sense of responsibility, citizenship, and stewardship. Overcoming curricular, cultural, and resource barriers is required. By nurturing imagination as essential infrastructure, education can equip future microbiologists—and citizens more broadly—to navigate uncertainty and co-create regenerative futures.