Embracing Change and Supporting Transitions. Approaches to Systemic Change in Products, Services, and Systems

Bringing together studies and reflections on how design can address major social, environmental and technological transformations that are redefining our present and future, the book is edited by Stefana Broadbent and Silvia D. Ferraris.

This volume is one of three publications produced as part of the Dipartimenti di Eccellenza – Design for Systemic Change project, which was promoted by the Department of Design at the Politecnico di Milano. This editorial project involves the publication of collective volumes narrating the transversal and synergistic research conducted within the department, as well as essays focusing on a selection of European research projects sharing the innovation, sustainability and inclusion objectives of the Dipartimenti di Eccellenza project.

Embracing Change and Supporting Transitions. Approaches to Systemic Change in Products, Services and Systems is a book that explores how design is progressively integrating new disciplines, ranging from neuroscience and artificial intelligence to data analysis and feminist theory, in order to develop tools and methodologies that can address the growing complexity of contemporary society.

A key takeaway from the contributions is the shared vision that the changes we are experiencing require a collective, multidisciplinary approach. No single project can face the breadth of the current challenges alone, but each project can become part of an innovation ecosystem that grows through the contributions of many different actors.

The volume is structured into three sections:

• Embracing other disciplines: integrating new knowledge and cross-disciplinary approaches into design research, such as neuroscience, artificial intelligence, feminist theories, and the construction of new meanings.
• New approaches for design research: explore new research practices, such as data management for urban biodiversity, the intersection between drawing and algorithms, game design as a motivational tool, and reflections on contemporary challenges in product development.
• Design Practice for Supporting Transformation: Addressing complexity through meta-design, inclusive design, design thinking for entrepreneurial innovation, and the role of design in social innovation processes.

The volume offers an in-depth and up-to-date overview of design as a discipline capable of supporting and accompanying transformation processes with an open and responsible outlook toward the future and it's available in the FrancoAngeli open access catalog.

Contributions: Marco Ajovalasit, Giuseppe Andreoni, Venanzio Arquilla, Andrea Benedetti, Maresa Bertolo, Giorgio Buratti, Gianluca Carella, Federica Caruso, Luca Casartelli, Gabriele Colombo, Marta Corubolo, Joseph Giacomin, Svafa Grönfeldt, Margherita Pillan, Isabella Ruina, Carla Sedini, Srini R. Srinivasan, Francesco Zurlo.