Summer School | Design and Transitions: Emerging Theories and Practices at the Intersection

Although typically operating in isolation, the fields of Design and Transitions (including their scientific foundations and frameworks, their norms, and their methods) are increasingly seen as complementary in the pursuit of achieving sustainable, just and resilient futures. As a result, increasing scholarly attention is being paid to how the fields relate to one another, leading to new configurations and integrations of each. Transformative change is already happening, and policy, business and communities are engaging with it in different ways to address the challenges of sustainability. However, if we want to attend to the increasing urgency of radical transitions, we need another strategy - one that is transformative and imaginative and brings into practice the idea that we can design towards transitions. 

During this summer school, we will discover this emerging field together, while learning about theories and practices that are arising and/or relevant at the intersection. Additionally, you will learn about the theories and practices that are typical in these disciplines and together explore effective ways of co-creating knowledge in research and practice contexts of sustainability transitions. We will address topics such as power and justice, imagination, experientiality of futures, more-than-humans and much more in a program that combines theoretical and experiential learning activities.

Organised by Design Impact Transition (DIT) Platform in collaboration with NODUS Sustainable Design Research Group, Aalto University (Finland).

Practical information

Requirements

The summer school invites applications from graduate students, PhD students and postdoctoral researchers with a background in or affiliation with design (research) and/or sustainability transitions. As a prerequisite for participation, participants need to be pursuing research related to the summer school’s core themes and questions. Additionally, participants are expected to have sufficient proficiency in English to be able to actively participate in the summer school.

Course information

Participants of the summer school will engage in a rigorous, creative, and collaborative learning experience. This will be done through three main activities:

1. theoretical discussions between the two disciplines with experts leading the field, where you will engage with keynote speakers in participatory theory building
2. hands-on activities, where we will focus on practice and explore emerging design and transition contexts in the city of Rotterdam
3. reflection, where you will get the space to reflect on what you have learned and how this relates to your own practice through various embodied reflection exercises. 

All these activities will be related to emerging theories and practices of design and transitions, e.g., justice and power, multi-species/more-than-human, futuring, imagination and experientiality. 

Learning outcomes

After this course you will be able to:

• Discuss the key similarities, differences and potential synergies of design research and sustainability transitions with particular references to the theoretical frameworks and methods deployed in each field.
• Critically analyse emerging syntheses and integrations of the two fields.
• Conceptualise new theoretical and methodological insights that can inform the emerging intersections between design research and sustainability transitions.
• Develop and apply skills for co-creation of knowledge across disciplines and with stakeholders in transdisciplinary contexts of sustainability transitions projects.
• Reflect on your own role within a multidisciplinary group and relevant professional contexts.

Programme Outline 

Application procedure

To apply, please fill out the online application form. You will be asked to upload the following documents:

• Curriculum Vitae (max. 1 page)
• Motivation letter (max. 500 words), addressing the following questions:
  • How does your research relate to the topic of the summer school?
  • What do you expect to take away from the summer school?
  • How do you envision to contribute into the interdisciplinary and collaborative learning space of the summer school?

The deadline for application is 1st of May 2023. Selected participants will be informed as soon as possible, but latest on 15 May 2023.