Co-design and Sustainable Food in Vietnam

Co-creation for sustainable products and actions is a new approach to most of Vietnamese enterprises and consumers. The co-design workshop between companies and customers is an innovative way to bring them together, create mutual understanding and put the spotlight on sustainability. Through the GetGreen Vietnam project promoting sustainable living and working for Vietnamese middle-income consumers, we have seen the impacts and benefits of the co-design workshop on both the companies and the consumers. For example, the change in packaging design of Viet Lien tea product as a result of the co-design workshop has brought to waste reduction.This “Co-design of Sustainable Food in Vietnam” booklet is written for everyone, especially companies, consumers and experts, who want to organize a co-design workshop in Vietnam, with focus on food and sustainability. It includes the methodology, a step-by-step facilitation manual and the results of implemented co-design workshops. We hope that readers will be equipped with enough knowledge and be inspired to conduct more and more co-creation activities.JOTTE DE KONING is a design researcher from The Netherlands. This booklet was produced during her PhD research at the Delft University of Technology. The research was part of the project GetGreen Vietnam and in collaboration with the Asian Institute of Technology Vietnam and the Vietnam Cleaner Production Centre. The topic of her research was co-design and sustainable food consumption of the Vietnamese urban middle class.Design for Sustainabilit

Sustainable Food by Design: Co-design and Sustainable Consumption Among the Urban Middle Class of Vietnam

Growing unsustainable consumption in Vietnam is a pressing issue, especially in urban areas. The effects of rapid economic growth, industrialization and increasing wealth in combination with a young, growing population makes that the middle class of Vietnam is on the rise. This movement within the population is making room to form and introduce new consumption patterns; patterns that are both sustainable as well as adapted to the improving living standards.This thesis points out that food is the most promising category to start building these new consumption patterns from. In Vietnam both consumers and producers are looking for ways to make their practices sustainable. Design can help building and giving form to new behaviour patterns, products and services. However, creating more trust and understanding between the Vietnamese food consumers and producers is essential. Co-design specifically could enable the creation of trust and understanding as well as create a learning environment; ultimately leading to a better adapted, more attractive and sustainable food system in Vietnam.Design for Sustainabilit

Design and transition management: value of synergy for sustainability

This paper aims to understand the value of synergy between the field of design and that of transition management for sustainability. Six potential values of synergy are identified: (1) enriched methods of retrieving knowledge of current objects and current systems; (2) providing boundary objects in transition arenas beyond language games; (3) actively envisioning the effect of design things during and beyond their lifetime; (4) intensified reflexivity in design practices and projects; (5) more prototyping activities to leave traces of transition activities in everyday life; (6) greater focus on building interactions through a broader range of co-creation activities. The paper also identifies four possible pitfalls of synergy between the two practices. The paper is grounded in literature but is meant to be a stepping stone towards experimentation in practice; where knowledge, approaches, methods and experience of both fields are combined to intensify the impact on sustainabilityDesign for Sustainabilit

Activating Energy Communities for Systemic Change

The speed of energy transition in the Netherlands is low, in contrast to its2050 climate change target of net-zero emissions. The transition requires 7.5 million households with natural gas connections, to move to renewable energy sources. The main challenge is not technical, many viable options are already available, but social: people will need to be supported to decide and act. In this paper, we identify interventions that could activate change within energy communities, through 19 interviews conducted in March 2021 in Austerlitz, Zeist municipality, The Netherlands. Interview questions were guided by the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavioural (COM-B) change model. The model explains factors that affect people’s behaviour. Results indicate that renovation and energy transition are viewed as two separate processes. Austerlitz homeowners are waiting for the government to lead the energy transition process, while they continue to renovate their homes to improve comfort, aesthetics, safety, and convenience. Also, current interventions towards activating households are piecemeal and more focused on creating external opportunities (such as financial support), and barely address the psychologicalcapabilities and motivation factors (belief, attitude, social norm, and perceivedbehavioural control). To boost psychological capabilities and motivation, werecommend interventions that enhance homeowners’ belief that the energy transition is part of their long-term home renovation plans, for their own benefit, to motivate them to drive the energy transition process. Interventions may include ‘show’ or ‘display’ houses where energy transition was combined with renovations and highlighting inspirational energy transition stories on the municipality website.Design for Sustainabilit

Identifying behavioural change interventions that activate individuals to drive the energy transition process

Design for Sustainabilit

From gas to green: designing a social contagion strategy for the energy transition in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

To reach the 2050 climate goals, massive socio-technical transitions are required. For requisite impact, not only industry and government need to transform, but a critical mass of society must adopt greener alternatives. However, people have a tendency to maintain the status quo and often resist change until a final moment of urgency or crisis. This study focuses on the Dutch energy transition. We propose and illustrate how social influence or ‘social contagion’ can be used to activate communities of citizens, not just individuals, to adopt greener alternatives; leveraging the strength of design in shaping behaviour (change). Lying at the intersection of design, psychology, and sociology, our study contributes toward theories of scaling behaviour change and proposes practical tools to establish change through design. The results show how design can play a critical role in shaping sustainable systemic transitions and argues for pluralistic applications of design thinking.Marketing and Consumer ResearchDesign for Sustainabilit

Ten types of emerging city makers

Design Conceptualization and Communicatio

Design competencies for a circular economy

Limited research has been done on design competencies for a circular economy in practice. Yet, an overview of design competencies for a circular economy would be useful to understand which topics should be emphasized in both education and practice. This paper focuses on deriving circular economy competencies for product designers working in industry. The study consisted of three focus groups with twelve designers that are actively exploring circular economy opportunities in an industrial product design context. We derived six design competencies for a circular economy: (1) circular economy understanding, (2) circular economy storytelling (3) setting circular criteria, (4) assessing circular solutions, (5) connecting reverse logistics with users, and (6) design for multiple use cycles. These six competencies are presented and reflected upon by comparing them to competencies found in literature. Two of the competencies found (i.e., circular economy understanding and storytelling) are new compared to those mentioned in literature. The other four competencies found in this study overlap or further specify competencies mentioned in literature. Ultimately, the relevancy of each of the six competencies for an individual designer is determined by the role this designer has in a company.Circular Product DesignDesign for Sustainabilit

Landscape of participatory city makers: A distinct understanding through different lenses

Today, citizens, professionals, civil servants, social enterprises, and others form different types of coalitions to overcome the challenges facing our modern cities. In this paper, the particularities of these types of groups are characterised and categorised into ten different types of city makers. Generally, these types of city makers bring value to cities, but we conclude that this value could be enriched through more participatory approaches that stimulate crossovers and accelerate the transition towards sustainable futures. Therefore, we characterise the different identified types as potential ‘participatory’ city makers. However, these participatory approaches and the networks between them still need to be developed, while improving conditions and dynamics that can enable and enhance innovation in urban environments. Design and systems thinking could contribute valuable methods and perspectives to the development of these participatory and systemic approaches. Finally, the categorisation presented in this paper must enable a better understanding of the transformative capacity of these different types of city makers, necessary for flourishing and sustainable communities.Design for SustainabilityDesign Conceptualization and Communicatio

Shaping Spaces of Interaction for Sustainable Transitions

Design Conceptualization and Communicatio