Four Questions for Systemic More-Than-Human Design in Practice
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A3 Kirjan tai muun kokoomateoksen osa
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en
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18
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More-than-human design in practice requires systemic thinking that is concrete and action-oriented while simultaneously remaining ontologically open, critical and questioning. In this chapter, we discuss four central questions of more-than-human systemic thinking that may balance these requirements. Asking how systemic relationships are established, we discuss how different systemic approaches to sustainability issues emphasise different elements of discourse in sustainable design action thus making visible different economic, political, social etc. systemic relationships. Asking how we select who or what to consider in a system, we discuss how to grasp and delimit the shifting parameters of a system, and what might be considered inside and outside of it by reflecting on the philosophical concept of ‘agential cuts’ and a systemic typology of more-than-human nonhuman stakeholders. Asking how more-than-human systems can be mapped, we provide an overview of system mapping methods and discuss how systems can be mapped using the example of designing for a coastal wetland located in northeast China and an urban permaculture farm in central Sweden. Asking how designers intervene in systems, we discuss how to move from systemic understanding to systemic action using the example of a design probe for finding leverage points in systems. By discussing these questions and examples, we want to inspire others to adopt, adapt and develop new methods for creative systems thinking in more-than-human design. Lastly, in the final discussion, we critically discuss our questions addressing the challenges of balancing formal systems thinking with critical ideas of posthuman relationality in practical design work.Description
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Anton Poikolainen Rosén, Antti Salovaara, Andrea Botero and Marie Louise Juul Søndergaard; individual chapters, the contributors.
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Rosén, A P, Chen, Y, Törnroth, S, Gaziulusoy, İ & Marttila, T 2024, Four Questions for Systemic More-Than-Human Design in Practice. in A Poikolainen Rosén, A Salovaara, A Botero & M L Juul Søndergaard (eds), More-Than-Human Design in Practice. Routledge, London, pp. 132-149. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003467731-13