Sensemaking Meetup x Laurea CE Living Lab: Transition Design with Zeynep Falay von Flittner
On June 6th, 2024, the Laurea CE Living Lab hosted a virtual morning coffee session in collaboration with Systems Change Finland as part of their ongoing Sensemaking meetup series. This session featured a compelling presentation on Transition Design by Zeynep Falay von Flittner (LinkedIn) of Falay Transition Design (LinkedIn). The Laurea Circular Economy Living Lab, a hub for education, research and development, and regional growth associated with the circular economy, organized this enriching event.
The session kicked off with Zeynep Falay von Flittner introducing herself. Zeynep shared her extensive professional journey, transitioning from digital design roles at Nokia and Fjord Accenture to embracing holistic service design with a focus on sustainability. By 2015, she had pivoted towards customer-centric transformation, and by 2017, she was deeply involved in transition design due to its potential societal impacts. In 2021, Zeynep took an entrepreneurial leap, driven by the urgency for radical and faster implementation of sustainable practices.
Her initiative revolves around building regenerative business models that prioritize sustainability over financial gains, fostering a community of care among its members. Her team is experimenting with various approaches to create a collaborative work culture and develop funding mechanisms aligned with sustainability goals.
The discussion explored the evolution of design interventions from product-level improvements to systemic impacts at various levels. Zeynep emphasized the shift from technocentric to human-centric and cultural aspects in framing design problems. Circular design efforts target product and service system levels, while transition design aims for broader impacts despite limited practical examples.
Highlighting the urgent need for sustainable actions due to climate impacts, Zeynep urged participants to make deliberate choices now to mitigate future risks. She pointed out that the wealthiest 10% of the population’s excessive resource consumption significantly stresses planetary boundaries, underscoring the need for interventions targeting production patterns and consumption habits.
Zeynep discussed the challenges in addressing systemic problems, such as organizational silos, short-term goals, and reductionist mindsets. Overcoming these challenges requires understanding invisible data, visualizing complexities, and fostering cross-sector collaboration through shared data access.
Exploring Nora Bateson’s concept of holism, Zeynep emphasized understanding interrelationships within living systems. Neglecting holistic perspectives can lead to unintended consequences due to incomplete comprehension of complex issues.
Forming alliances with actors from traditional institutions and companies is crucial for effective collaboration. Different sectors, including academia, entrepreneurs, and public/private institutions, have unique strengths and limitations that need to be navigated in alliances.
Zeynep drew parallels between historical transitions, like the shift from horse carriages to automobiles, and future transitions involving AI and autonomous robots. These shifts require new rules, infrastructures, and institutions, demanding an intentional understanding of complexity to prevent harm to vulnerable groups.
She discussed the need for transitioning from unsustainable systems towards more viable alternatives. Stabilizers maintain existing systems while new paradigms gradually emerge. Pioneers creating niche innovations pave the way for new paradigms supported by collaborative efforts within communities of practice.
During transitions towards new paradigms, hospice workers play a crucial role in phasing out elements of old systems gracefully. Honoring past actors while embracing change ensures smooth transitions without resistance.
Transition design involves a transdisciplinary approach, combining methods from systems thinking, anthropology, and design research for effective change. Zeynep emphasized exploring past transitions, envisioning radically different yet desirable futures, and creating transition pathways.
Engaging different stakeholders is crucial for system change. Zeynep highlighted Donella Meadows’ leverage point framework as a tool for identifying intervention points within systems. Intervening at the mindset and paradigm level leads to significant shifts, and imagination plays a key role in envisioning radically different futures.
Designing interventions for future systems involves experimenting with transition movements and alternative paradigms. Micro-system setups provide insights into potential paradigm shifts, and an open-source transition design toolbox facilitates discussions on transitioning to new systems.
Zeynep addressed the concept of a reality gap when transitioning between present and future scenarios. Reverting from normative scenarios back to the present is challenging due to discrepancies in outcomes. She also mentioned a framework developed by Ceschin and Gaziulusoy for addressing this issue.
The session concluded with a vibrant discussion, leaving participants inspired and equipped with new insights on transition design and its crucial role in driving sustainable change.
Slides:
Recording:
Interested? Join our community!
Systems Change Finland seeks to cultivate a society that can deal with systemic and complex challenges. The purpose of Systems Change Finland is to promote the application of approaches that help people, organizations and society understand and work with systems and complexity.
- Join the Systems Change Finland group on Facebook
- Follow Systems Change Finland on LinkedIn
- Check our WWW-page at systemschange.fi
- Come work with us in our slack community
Sign up for Falay Transition Design’s monthly newsletter Seeding Futures.
And make sure to check out the Laurea Circular Economy Living Lab WWW-page
