Two years ago, in an economically underprivileged neighbourhood, designers and researchers collaborated with residents to investigate how local community challenges could be supported by initially hypothetical autonomous urban robots that later became known as “hoodbots” (Jaskiewicz & Smit, 2024). The …

Business model innovation is essential to drive the systemic change required for a new economy. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide focus and direction towards this transition. For companies in the agriculture and horticulture sectors, SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, is …

Methodological research is on the move. Across disciplines and domains, we see a growing focus on how methods can collectively drive systemic change and support societal transitions. The KEM monitor brings these developments together — tracing the emerging directions of a field in motion. Key Enabling …

To effectively prepare students for navigating complex societal and sustainability challenges, higher education institutions are increasingly experimenting with transdisciplinary learning environments (TLEs) in which students collaborate with external stakeholders across disciplinary and sectoral boundaries. …

In the face of increasingly complex societal challenges, the field of social design is being called upon to deepen its ability to create long-term, systemic impact. This project, conducted with five experienced social designers and one workshop in our ESConference in 2025, explored how systems thinking, …

This book provides empirical evidence on youth engagement with peace, justice, and strong institutions (SDG 16). It takes a bottom-up approach to exploring the meaning and value of global citizenship and social cohesion. It showcases three studies about how the younger generation interprets SDG 16, EU …

In their relatively short existence, the Expertisenetwork Systemic Co-design (ESC) (ESC) puts these aspirations into practice. As an adventurous and open-ended escapade, ESC is building a community of engaged people around shared challenges, who learn together, create new social narratives, develop capacities, …

Student success is a critically important concept in educational assessment and research, yet a comprehensive synthesis of its defining elements remains absent. To address this gap, a scoping review was conducted, identifying 274 peer-reviewed studies published between 2011 and 2022. From these studies, …

Timber construction is rapidly advancing in structural engineering due to its benefits, such as light weight, ease of prefabrication, and contribution to societal goals. With an increase in building height, however, knowledge garnered by coupling advance modelling and experimental testing will enable …

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly called upon to both respond to and drive societal change. To better understand how HEIs can enhance their ability to innovate, an integrative literature review was conducted, examining the concept of innovative capacity. Key resources, such as social …