Abstract
In a world of increasing complexity, designers working in transitional spaces face blockages imposed by the dominant, locked-in capitalist mindset. Frustrated by the impediments in the systems we try to change, we were prompted to go deeper into the conditions for our change agency, as researchers focused on sustainability and long-term straddlers of industry and academia. As we asked how we can navigate being change agents within complex systems, we turned to becoming systems change pen pals, following the steps of a metadesign tool, which takes us from the remit of personal feelings to future perspectives and new vantage points for our respective and collective change work. This paper shares insights from this collaborative autoethnographic method. It proposes Pen-palling Systems Change as an accessible and agentic tool for change agents, as co-reflections are needed to extend our relatedness and care for the resilience required for long-term, complex change.
Keywords
metadesign tool, collaborative autoethnography, systemic design, design agency
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1315
Citation
Maione, D., and Tham, M. (2026) Pen-palling systems change: a collaborative approach to growing individual agency in light of global polycrises, 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.2026.1315
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Pen-palling systems change: a collaborative approach to growing individual agency in light of global polycrises
In a world of increasing complexity, designers working in transitional spaces face blockages imposed by the dominant, locked-in capitalist mindset. Frustrated by the impediments in the systems we try to change, we were prompted to go deeper into the conditions for our change agency, as researchers focused on sustainability and long-term straddlers of industry and academia. As we asked how we can navigate being change agents within complex systems, we turned to becoming systems change pen pals, following the steps of a metadesign tool, which takes us from the remit of personal feelings to future perspectives and new vantage points for our respective and collective change work. This paper shares insights from this collaborative autoethnographic method. It proposes Pen-palling Systems Change as an accessible and agentic tool for change agents, as co-reflections are needed to extend our relatedness and care for the resilience required for long-term, complex change.