Troubling Transitions: Growing Pains in Designing and Researching for Transformation

Authors

• Femke Coops, Eindhoven University of Technology; Norwich University of the Arts, United KingdomFollow
• Marysol Ortega Pallanez, Arizona State University, United StatesFollow
• Joanna Boehnert, Bath Spa University, United KingdomFollow
• Idil Gaziulusoy, Aalto University, FinlandFollow
• Silvana Juri, SARAS Institute, Uruguay / Stockholm Resilience CenterFollow
• Anja Overdiek, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, NetherlandsFollow
• Alma Leora Culén, University of Oslo, NorwayFollow
• Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Norwegian University of Science & Technology, NorwayFollow
• Dan Lockton, Norwich University of the Arts, United KingdomFollow
• Emma Dewberry, The Open University, United KingdomFollow
• Fabrizio Ceschin, Brunel University of London, United KingdomFollow

Abstract

The theme track ‘Troubling Transitions: Growing Pains in Designing and Researching for Transformation’ at DRS2026 includes 12 papers that explore the growing pains, the frictions, contradictions, and (unresolved) dilemmas that characterise designing for transitions and transformations including tensions around epistemic challenges, transdisciplinarity, and participation, and the responses designers/design researchers are exploring to meet them. This editorial describes key growing pains addressed in the papers, while highlighting the different response to dilemmas in transition work. Through reflecting on the contributions to the track, several opportunities for future work arise as the field matures.

Keywords

Design, transitions, sustainability, tensions

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.218

Citation

Coops, F., Ortega Pallanez, M., Boehnert, J., Gaziulusoy, I., Juri, S., Overdiek, A., Leora Culén, A., Nilstad Pettersen, I., Lockton, D., Dewberry, E., and Ceschin, F. (2026) Troubling Transitions: Growing Pains in Designing and Researching for Transformation, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.218

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License