Indian migrants in the Netherlands can practice their food rituals, but those rituals feel incomplete. The ingredients are mostly available, the recipes are known, and the desire to maintain food practices is strong. Yet the surrounding conditions, the people, the kitchen, the rhythm, the senses, are misaligned with what the ritual requires to feel whole. This project investigates that gap: not a failure of access or knowledge, but a failure of conditions.

Through semi-structured discussions with fourteen participants across nine households, three co-creative potluck workshops, and a community-witness interview, the research identified six attributes of food ritual incompleteness in migration: sensory gaps, the double distance (home has changed too), social thinning, temporal compression, a persistent split between adapted practices and unchanged values, and spatial friction from Dutch kitchen infrastructure. A consistent pattern emerged across all voices: people state their needs in material terms and hold them in relational ones. The material is the vehicle; the relational is where it arrives.

The workshops revealed that the table, not a product or service, is the most effective design space. The resulting concept is a structured potluck built around a culturally grounded mnemonic: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Anchored in the masala dabba (the Indian spice box carried by brides from one kitchen to the next), the format uses six prompt cards to guarantee that every gathering covers the temporal and relational range that unstructured gatherings leave to chance. Two iterations were developed: a physical brass dabba with printed cards, and a web application with blind-draw mechanics.

A test session with six participants confirmed that the format produces relational depth across four registers, with a material-to-relational bridge rate exceeding 83%. The concept addresses social and temporal loss directly, raises conditions for sensory fidelity without guaranteeing it, and honestly acknowledges what it cannot reach: the weekday, the kitchen infrastructure, the newcomer without a group, and the existential distance of a home that no longer exists. ... Read more

This thesis explores public attitudes toward asylum seekers in the Netherlands using the Social Implication Design methodology. By projecting the research to 2045, the study examines future societal attitudes and identifies key driving forces such as trust, engagement, and the universal need to feel at home. Among nine possible future attitudes, the project focuses on apathy and compassion fatigue toward asylum seekers.

The design challenge centers on reducing indifference by fostering relatedness through a shared sense of home. Inspired by team sports and collective goals, the project develops a cultural intervention aimed at strengthening connections between local residents and asylum seekers.

The case study focuses on the planned AZC Sportring and the nearby neighborhood De Bras in Delft. The proposed intervention is a community artwork in which residents and asylum seekers collaboratively create stained-glass tile artworks during workshops. These tiles are installed on a local bridge and revealed during a public celebration, symbolizing shared identity and belonging. Participants can later take their tiles home as lasting reminders of connection.

The findings suggest that using the theme of home encourages meaningful conversations about differences and shared experiences, helping foster curiosity, cohesion, and social connection. Although initial testing showed promising results, further validation with asylum seekers and local residents is still needed. ... Read more

The first 1,000 days of life, from conception to a child's second birthday, are widely recognised as the most consequential window for shaping lifelong health. Despite this, public-health outcomes related to nutrition in the Netherlands remain poor: 8.1% of the national disease burden is linked to unhealthy dietary patterns, 54 to 61% of daily energy intake is derived from ultra-processed foods, and approximately one in seven Dutch children is overweight. These outcomes are downstream symptoms of an upstream condition: the food environment within which a new family takes shape, and the way nutritional knowledge is distributed across the actors that surround it.

This graduation thesis, carried out within the MSc Design for Interaction at Delft University of Technology in collaboration with Reinier de Graaf Hospital, investigates the central research question of how a systemic design approach can contribute to improving the nutritional environment of new parents and their newborns during the first 1,000 days.

The research applied a systemic-design methodologies to collect and analyse data in order to identify leverage points within the system. Applying the leverage-points framework of Meadows (1999), the project committed to paradigms as the deepest level of intervention and selected the partner of a pregnant woman as the entry point for design.

A design direction grounded in this leverage point was developed and evaluated through two complementary tracks: a qualitative user evaluation with partners and a clinical-expert review with the paediatric team at Reinier de Graaf. Both tracks produced positive results, with the strongest signal on the paradigm-level dimension of the design goal, indicating that the intended shift from a single-person to a shared household orientation toward nutrition was perceived as landing in the way the project was built to achieve. ... Read more

This graduation project explored how awareness of Utrecht’s colonial past can be increased, while also taking a step towards breaking colonial patterns that continue in society.

When thinking about the Dutch colonial past, Utrecht is often not the first city that comes to mind. Yet its public space contains many references to colonial history, including street names. Street names influence how we relate to the past, as they reflect which histories and figures were once considered worthy of remembrance. However, many of these histories are unknown to the public. This matters because colonial structures are deeply interwoven in Dutch society, and visible in present-day forms of systemic racism and inequality. Furthermore, these public references can be painful for people with personal, cultural or intergenerational ties to the colonial past. Therefore, the Municipality of Utrecht started a project to create more awareness of the colonial stories behind street names.

This graduation project took that initiative as a starting point, but intended to move beyond awareness alone and take a step towards breaking colonial structures. A broader research was conducted using the Vision in Product design method, which starts from envisioning a likely future context and formulating a vision before designing tangible interventions. This is important, because it supports designing from values and societal understanding rather than merely reacting to existing problems. A framework was designed that describes the future context of how society relates to the colonial past. Both the framework and the tangible concept that emerges from it, are design outcomes from this project.

An important part of the process was the careful involvement of affected communities, which refers to people with personal, cultural or intergenerational ties to colonial histories. Community experts were involved at key moments to contribute lived experience, relevant expertise and critical perspectives. Their involvement supported reflection on my own position as a designer and on existing power dynamics within the process.

The designed framework identifies nine obstacles in moving towards a decolonial future. One of these directions was selected to further develop. The chosen direction focuses on control and knowledge. It describes how dominant narratives about the colonial past are created through selective facts and framing, presenting the Netherlands as an innocent, ethical country that can take pride in their ‘Golden Age’. This direction led to a design vision, setting out to break through this dominant narrative and open up space for multiple histories to exist alongside each other.

The resulting concept combines physical interventions with a larger digital platform. The interventions reveal hidden stories in everyday environments, while the platform offers space to explore these stories in depth. Users are confronted by presenting colonial and decolonial perspectives alongside one another and are invited to reflect through thought-provoking questions.

Evaluation with the municipality and community stakeholders showed clear potential in the combination of public interventions and an evolving platform. In addition, the framework offers guidance for future action beyond the chosen concept direction by highlighting what else is needed to more meaningfully address the colonial past. ... Read more

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges we face, and the protein transition offers a promising solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An ideal dietary shift would involve a 50/50 balance of diverse protein sources, which can improve overall health. While the number of flexitarians is rising, meat consumption remains high, showcasing a disconnect between intentions and actual behaviours. Notably, men are the largest meat consumers, and achieving a balanced diet will require substantial changes, particularly during festive occasions like Christmas and barbecues, where meat plays a central role.

This project aims to explore how vegetables can be more prominently featured in barbecue menus. It emphasises a small yet impactful change that preserves the familiar traditions of grilling. The target audience is male omnivores aged 25-35, providing them with the resources to prepare vegetable dishes that can take centre stage at their barbecues while maintaining tradition, pride, and culinary skills.

The outcome is a food kit developed under Jord Althuizen’s brand, Fiery Veggies. This kit includes a recipe and the necessary ingredients to prepare a particular seasonal vegetable or fruit, enhanced by various spices. The chosen produce is selected for its texture, which is an important aspect in appealing to the target demographic. Customers can purchase these kits either in-store or online through Smokey Goodness. The recipes will be updated three times a year to reflect the seasonal availability of vegetables and the popularity of barbecuing, particularly in the summer months.

By reframing the experience of cooking with vegetables as a fun and adventurous first step, the project aims to exceed expectations regarding flavour and presentation. It also positions the food kit as a perfect gift for barbecue enthusiasts, encouraging a new perspective on grilling that celebrates both vegetables and traditional cooking techniques.

This initiative not only supports the shift towards a more plant-based diet but also aligns with the growing trend of eco-conscious eating. By integrating vegetables into classic barbecue settings, it seeks to inspire change in culinary habits while highlighting the joy of cooking and sharing meals with others.
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