Master
Projects

When looking at the future, no one can predict what it holds. What will the Netherlands look like? And what does this mean for an executive organization as Rijkswaterstaat? To gain some insights into these questions Rijkswaterstaat started ‘Expedition RWS 2050’. It is an explorative search for the future of the Netherlands and Rijkswaterstaat, with the main goal of illustrating and facilitating discussion about the future of Rijkswaterstaat. Femke Coops,  Sander van Eck and I worked on this project together.

THEORY
In this project the theories of the transformation paradigm and post-phenomenology were applied. The transformation paradigm, coined by Brand and Rocchi (2011) provides a vision for the future of society and an understanding of potential developments. The philosophy of post-phenomenology looks at everyday live from the first-person perspective. How does a design affect this person and its interpretation of the world? These two theories were used to design the transformational qualities of our prototypes. Both theories were insightful approaches to inspire us and
use during iterations of the project.

APPROACH
The goal of the project was to make prototypes with organisational elements, which are intentionally provocative. The transformative practices framework is used to tackle societal challenges, which are systemic and inherently wicked. We used it as a guideline throughout the project, moving between the three different types of change: realise change, work change and be change. The project started with forming scenarios of the Netherlands in 2050 and then continued with oscillating between these futures and Rijkswaterstaat’s role as an organisation in this future.

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FINAL PRODUCT

Future scenarios to provoke the people that engage with the artefacts and start a discussion. One of the scenarios:

Rijkswaterstaat recruits its employees based on values, rather than skills. Values have been chosen that are important to the organization of the future and relate to the four different segments: human, nature, freedom and control. The values are distributed according to the three layers of the value circle: organization, segment values and individual values. During your job interview, you look for a value that you can represent within the organization. This is done together with a recruiter and the value circle is used for this. You will become part of one of the segments and represent an individual value. If there is a match you are hired! Before you start working you receive your welcome gift: a box full of things that display the value you represent.

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THEORY

The climate crisis in combination with the global economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis revealed the rising inequalities and showed the fragilities of the current economic system (Stern & Valero, 2021). It is important to gain a better understanding of the challenges related to joining the energy transition experienced by marginalized groups, like students. In studies on energy transition, students are often forgotten, as they are a complex focus group (Straver et al., 2020). Students often rent their house, only live at a place for a couple of years and do not feel the need or responsibility to invest in their houses. This research aims to provide opportunities for joining the energy transition, keeping in mind the complex situation of students in the Netherlands.

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APPROACH

This research creates a dialogue with students about their living experiences and wishes in a semi-structured interview setting, the answers are processed with a thematic analysis. Insights from this study could be used by designers to create more empathy and understanding when engaging in a design to accelerate the energy transition for this group. At the same time, designers can give policymakers in multidisciplinary projects a better understanding of the bottlenecks students face when joining the energy transition and come up with solutions.

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

(1) What are the living experiences of students in the Dutch residential system? (2) How can the insights into the complexity of their living situation be used to make the energy transition more accessible?

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FINAL RESULT

The key findings of this study are the lack of opportunities for students to join the energy transition. The general view on participating in the energy transition is that it is an activity you can choose to do. As a result, people who do not have the time or money to invest in these projects are automatically left out. Therefore, this research concludes that participation for students must be facilitated by public organisations. An infographic with follow-up steps based on the transforming practices theory has been worked out. 

In February 2022, I started an internship at the Innovation, Science and Strategy division (Directie X) of the Ministry of Justice and
Security in the Hague. The nature of the work of the Ministry of Justice and Security is oriented toward the here and now, which makes it hard to look beyond the issues of the day. The Ministry wants to anticipate the challenges of tomorrow. Therefore, the Innovation, Science and Strategy division signals upcoming relevant social and technical trends and supports the Ministry’s organizations with their response, to move toward a proactive and agile Ministry. I worked on the Technology Agenda, a pilot leading up to the Makerscollectief and gave workshops to colleagues from other teams and organisations.

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Next to the interaction with stakeholders, designers could also use their expertise to explore future-proof working practices and research the complexity and the ‘question-behind-the-question’ of challenges. Therefore, I believe that there is a need for designers operating from within the government.