Leveraging circular initiatives for systemic change in Argentina

In the context of the ongoing transition towards a more sustainable system, grassroots innovations, particularly Circular Initiatives (CIs), are emerging as crucial players, understanding Circular Economy as a promising pathway forward in this sustainability shift. Within this context, the Circular Value Flower (CVF) method was developed by Els...

Creating a value-driven Digital Identity Future: Engaging multiple stakeholders in strategic dialogues to balance values in the emergent ecosystem of digital identity in Europe

We live in an increasingly complex world in which policy regulations and system development must balance technology, existing regulations and all the people participating in the system. Currently, digital identities facilitate multiple verification processes in multiple contexts. For example, to give the ability to prove their own identity to...

Building Individuals: Rethinking Urban Design in light of the Digital Transition

Our world is going through several transitions at the time of writing. One of them is the digital transition. The digital transition changes the way we interact with each other, it gives us new ways to learn, new ways to work. It changes how society functions on a global scale. The digital transition makes people more individualised. It means...

Beyond conscious and premium: A strategy to unite sustainability communication of low-cost brands and retailers in the denim industry

The production of denim harms the environment, and given the industry’s size, the negative impact is significant. Therefore, denim must be produced more sustainably. In order to bring about change in the industry, an increase in demand for eco-friendly jeans is necessary to incentivise investments in sustainable production methods. Here, low...

The Future of the Urban Forest: Exploring the systemic granularity of the urban green domain to navigate towards a new paradigm

With nearly 70% of people living in cities by 2050 (United Nations, 2018), our urban environments are being put to the test, with more severe and frequent heat waves, droughts, floods, ongoing biodiversity loss, air pollution, and land subsidence. To sustain and increase the liveability and climate resilience of cities, the design and...

Designing the veggie transition: A strategy towards a successful vegetarian menu at the biggest Olympic training center in the Netherlands

Floods, long periods of drought, wildfires, and natural disasters are becoming more frequent, in more extreme proportions. Our current food system is a major contributor to this. In particular, the livestock industry. This is due to the amount of land and water that the livestock sector uses, and the emission of greenhouse gasses. In order to...

Into the soil: Investigating the current system of the Frisian dairy cow, to find a new perspective on the current complexity and inspire towards a sustainable future

In 2021, a group of angry farmers drove their tractors to the ‘Malieveld’ (‘Main square’) in The Hague, to protest the new nitrogen regulations. They felt angry because the politicians were not listening. When reading this news and following the politics around the farmers, a present call for sustainable change within agriculture could be heard....

Healthy Hillesluis: Designing interventions for a healthier food environment in a low SES neighbourhood

The current food system stimulates unhealthy food choices and is a major contributor to environmental pressures. To improve this situation, an integrated approach is necessary, where we take into account the different actors in the food environment and how each of these can contribute to a more healthy and sustainable society. Although change...

Ecosystems in transition: Designing collaborative ecosystems to accelerate transitions

In the current moment in time, there are large societal transitions happening, such as the transition to sustainable energy or the transition towards a circular economy. Design-led transitions are societal transitions towards more sustainable futures, led by designers (Irwin, 2015). These transitions help us to move towards a more sustainable...

The CERTIFIED approach to Human-Centered AI adoption: A framework for agile policymaking to regulate technology

Policymaking regarding Artificial Intelligence is threatened to lag behind, and the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security stated its desire to catch up. The longer we wait, the wider the ‘gap’ will become between regulation and market development. In order to keep AI technology beneficial, a human-centered design approach should be key not only...

Social contagion as a means to transitions

Faced with increased pressure due to the earthquakes in Groningen and global warming, the Netherlands government has decided to discontinue the production of and completely transition away from natural gas by 2050. This requires the transformation of the 95% of houses that are currently heated using natural gas into ones that are heated using...

Redesigning Psychiatry: A strategic repertoire to stimulate transition in the mental healthcare sector

The mental healthcare system in the Netherlands is in dire need of anupdate. With 90,000 people on the waiting list, an urgent shortage instaff, regular occurrence of ‘incorrect’ diagnoses, and a persistentstigma on mental health, this was exactly what was on RedesigningPsychiatry’s mind (Redesigning Psychiatry, 2020). Steering clear of...

Prosumerism in Oosterwold: Designing a Transitional Practice of Food Growing

Imagine a neighborhood where almost all of the decisions are left to its inhabitants; a neighborhood where all of the inhabitants cultivate soil to grow their food for their own consumption, in other words prosumerism*. This newly established neighborhood is Oosterwold which is located in the intersection of Dutch cities Almere and Zeewolde....

On digital citizenship and data as a new commons: Can we design a new movement? 


Along with the urgent need to reinvent our society, a series of paradigm shifts are already shaping transitions toward a more participatory and digital society. The current work takes stock of the promise of open data as a new resource and elaborates upon the maker movement, which has spurred people’s capacity to participate and has provided...

On transforming transition design: From promise to practice

We are living in transitional times. Much has been under debate on the need to change and to cope with societal transitions, less emphasis, however, is devoted on how to do so. Therefore, one of the primary questions in Transition Design is how to design for sustainabilitytransitions? The current work aims to evaluate ‘transition design studies’...

From things to systems, and back: A thing-centric approach to protein transition in the Netherlands

This master thesis shows that how to make a transition in everyday life and how to amplify the transition to the system level. Specifically, this research takes a practical case about 'protein transition' in the Netherlands. Based on Transition Design, practical theory, and thing-centric approaches, it designs a new framework for the change of...