Course Topics
“If I can’t dance, it's not my revolution!” serves as the central catch-phrase for this year's course. Inspired by the words of feminist and activist Emma Goldman, the phrase highlights freedom and joy as essential foundations for political action and change. Aligning with Goldman's attitude, we invite students to examine ‘play’ as a potential catalyst for eco-social transformation. Play can break the normal state of affairs, for the sake of laughter, enjoyment and pleasure, but it can also challenge conventions, assumptions, biases and fears. In times of increasing environmental disasters, social inequality, polarisation, and connected hopelessness, we explore ‘play’ as a designerly strategy to involve people in collectively discussing, negotiating, exploring and activating transformations towards more solidarity-based, sustainable and just futures. By situating these futures in the city, we explore ‘play’ through material and visual means and as a catalyst for new urban imaginaries and actions contributing to liveable, resilient and collaborative cities able to welcome humans as well as more-than-human inhabitants and support coexistence. Topics of exploration can include climate vulnerability, green-blue networks, affordable housing, accessible public space, intergenerational and intercultural living, with ‘play’ examined from multiple perspectives. In the initial phase, students engage with the urban environment to assess its current conditions, offerings, and needs. This process involves interaction with local stakeholders, including civil servants, citizen groups, local experts, NGOs, and activists. Students immerse themselves in the urban context, examine its socio-material infrastructure and practices, and analyse existing data and visions. Critical reflection on these engagements is guided by design and research methodologies. Through this process, potential design spaces for intervention are identified with care and responsibility, ensuring alignment with the local context. The course culminates in the development and prototyping of proposals for eco-social transformation at the city level. These proposals may include transformative future scenarios, concrete site-specific interventions, design tools for transformation, new shared circular systems, or collective services that engage with the city through the lens of “play”.

Propaedeutic courses
none

Teaching format
Project-work with a balanced mix of lectures, field work, exercises and experiments, workshops, concepts and prototypes development, presentations and reviews (individually and in groups), interventions by external experts and field trips.

Educational objectives
Knowledge and understanding Students will have developed their own individual project practice and will be able to: - design, implement and manage projects - develop creative solutions and processes - involve stakeholders and actors in projects, identify their needs, conflicts and potentials and work productively with them - designing the aesthetic dimension of projects or collaborating in design - developing prototypes or delegating their development - developing interventions and events or delegating their development - test and evaluate prototypes, interventions, events or their individual elements, or delegate their testing/testing and evaluation. Applying knowledge and understanding Students will be able to: - develop projects and practices suitable for addressing complex challenges. - make tangible ideas, reports and projects, such as sketches, visualisations, mock-ups, models, prototypes, interventions and prototype events Research and from courses of the area Observe, Analyse & Apply - be able to co-create original ideas for effective projects, aiming at desirable and viable Eco-Social transitions - be able to develop effective projects in given situations (see above) with the above mentioned aims - setup and organize a project according to its requirements, across all phases: initial research, finding, project development, exploration and experimentation, prototyping, testing and publishing / exhibiting. - be able to design and build mockups, functional models and/or other artifacts, which make the project tangible and testable, integrating methods and skills from courses of the area Make & Intervene - Integrate approaches, knowledges, methods, competences, skills and technologies from multiple fields and (design) disciplines Making judgments Students will be able to: - take responsibility for the development and management of projects and activities - judging independently and critically: concepts and drafts Communication skills Students will be able to: - communicate convincingly in different ways and with different audiences - present projects convincingly - argue creative and strategic decisions - communicate productively within the team - lead creative processes and teams Learning skills Students will be able to: - working independently to learn according to different situations and in a personal way through experimentation and planning - working independently to learn according to different situations and in a personal way through the development of prototypes, models, mock-ups and the feedback they provide - organising learning processes

Assessment
The final exam will consist of a public presentation of the group project(s) developed during the course, that will be required to include all the aspects of the project development process, including initial and contextual research, critical analysis and positioning, participatory and inclusive methodologies, communication and storytelling strategies, prototyping tools. Before taking the exam, the students will be required to produce and file: - A project documentation in the form of a booklet - A project documentation in the form of a faculty portfolio entry - An exhibition during the faculty semester show (GOG) Assessment for NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS will be based on the presentation of the project developed by the students. Along with the project outcome, non-attending students need to be able to thoroughly present the design and research process that lead to it, including understanding of the local context, collaboration with local actors and design decisions taken. Also non attending students need to produce and file the documents and exhibition mentioned above.

Evaluation criteria
Student performance in this course will be evaluated based on a combination of individual and group work, emphasising both process and outcomes. The assessment criteria are as follows: Project Work: Students will develop one or more design projects that reflect their understanding of the course’s central themes, particularly their ability to understand the city as a context for eco-social transformation. The project will be evaluated based on creativity, conceptual depth, and the ability to propose innovative solutions. Regular feedback sessions will track progress, and final submissions will be presented at the end of the course. Research and Critical Analysis: Students will be required to conduct research that critically engages with contemporary socio-ecological challenges at multiple scales, from local to global, and reflects on how design can contribute to viable socio-ecological transformations. This component will be assessed through written reports and presentations. Participation and Collaboration: Active participation in discussions, workshops, and collaborative activities with peers and the Design Research course is essential. Assessment will focus on the student’s contribution to the collective learning process, including teamwork, constructive feedback, and engagement with different perspectives. Reflection and Documentation: Students are expected to maintain a reflective journal or portfolio documenting their design process, challenges encountered, and personal insights. This will be assessed for depth of reflection and engagement with course topics. A final documentation must be submitted (as portfolio web page and booklet) which must communicate the project starting from its development process. The final evaluation of the design projects and research will also take in account the following criteria: 1. Eco-Social agency Impacts and potentials for positive eco-social change 2. Qualities of the designed artefacts Aesthetic and technical qualities, and in how far these qualities foster the eco-social agency. How they build upon the state of the art in your chosen field and (design) disciplines. Boldness and vigour of experimentation and design exploration. 3. Conceptual framing, reflection and future perspectives Understanding of the given situation, relevant actors and the potential for positive change. Critical analysis, synthesis, reflection and evaluation. Understanding of iterative development and future perspectives. 4. Relations, processes and organisation Understanding and managing relations and processes with the project team, collaborators, partners, stakeholders and other actors. Project management. 5. Storytelling Effectiveness and potential in communicating the project to relevant publics. Quality and effectiveness of presentation techniques and narrative. How well the story attracts attention, convinces and touches audiences. Defence of your proposition and your response to critics.