Thesis Project Phase 1: Research through Design, Exploration and Experimentation

Semestre 1 · 96103 · Corso di laurea magistrale in Design eco-sociale · 15CFU · EN

In Thesis Project Phase 1, students start the first part of the development of their thesis project. In the third semester, students choose and explore a topic, challenges or issues within a specific context, collaborating with various partners. They do literature review, case-study analysis, research-through-design and field research to explore their chosen topics. By means of practice-based experiments, interventions, failures and successes students develop the grounding of their thesis project and define their thesis project proposal. This lays the foundations for the subsequent elaboration of the final project and the written part of the Thesis.

The course is led by a team of three teachers: a design researcher together with design practitioners, covering the areas Objects–Spaces-Services and Communication–Interaction–Services. They collaborate closely in providing input, facilitating learning experiences and coaching students. Both students and teachers foster transdisciplinary dialogue and actions, among others by involving teachers of the courses of the areas Observe, Analyse & Apply and of Make & Intervene. Additionally, the project teachers organize the Master Colloquia, where external experts from civil society, companies, organisations and institutions are invited to discuss the students’ projects.

Docenti: Christian Krois, Secil Ugur Yavuz, Sónia Amélia Cabral Matos

Ore didattica frontale: 90 CIS/90 OSS + 60
Ore di laboratorio: 0
Obbligo di frequenza: highly recommended

Argomenti dell'insegnamento
CIS – Communication-Interaction-Services: Theories, strategies and practices of emancipatory social-ecological transformation Communication design Outreach strategies OSS – Objects - Spaces - Services: Relational Design Material Agency Techno-ecologies and post-humanism Design Research: Action-Oriented Research Positionality and Reflexivity Vulnerability and Ethics

Modalità di insegnamento
- Lectures, presentations, workshops - Weekly check-in sessions - Collective mapping sessions - Review and support sessions - Guest lectures - (Im)possible partner meetings (A conversational format for engaging with transformation-oriented actors who may become project partners.) - Site explorations - Case study sharing and analysis - Reading circles - Master colloquia with external experts (a feedback session supporting students in developing their thesis project proposal)

Obiettivi formativi
Knowledge and understanding Students course will have developed their own individual project practice and will be able to: - design, implement and manage projects - initiate, carry out and lead project-oriented research, development and design activities - develop creative solutions and processes - working with and leading multidisciplinary teams - working with different experts, companies, organisations, groups and people - 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 Making judgements Students will be able to: - take responsibility for the development and management of projects and activities - judging independently and critically: concepts and drafts, one's own behaviour and contribution (through reflection and self-criticism) 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

Modalità d'esame
At the end of the semester, students exhibit, present, and critically discuss their work and its future perspectives. The complete assessment will be based on all elements: the exam presentation and discussion, the submitted document, the short video and the exhibition. The exam consists of an oral presentation and discussion of the above-mentioned elements. The students submit a document, laying out a concise conceptual framing, including an analysis of contexts and backgrounds, synthesis of the theoretical underpinnings, empirical data, transformation strategy and tactics, relevant case studies and what is learned from them, documentation of the iterative development process, key moments, elements, activities, prototypes and decisions, maps of partners, stakeholders and allies, critical reflections, possible economic foundations, future perspectives, and everything that matters for the project and practice. As part of their final assessment, students will create and submit a short video (1–2 minutes) that introduces and explains their semester work. This video should not only communicate the core ideas and objectives of their project but also present an appealing story.. Each work is exhibited at the end of the semester in the GOG exhibition of the faculty. The short video will be part of the exhibition, which should also be designed. A short documentation needs to be submitted to the faculties online showcase. It needs to speak to all potentially interested audiences, such as current and future students, existing and future external partners, stakeholder and funders, and all, who could benefits from the projects and practices and support them. Assessment of non-attending students: Non-attending students have the same assessment criteria as attending students. All requested assignments need to be done, and all deliverables (above mentioned) need to be provided in time.

Criteri di valutazione
The evaluation process will consider these criteria: 1. Eco-Social agency: (Potential) contribution to emancipatory social-ecological transformation 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: Clarity and coherence of the conceptual framing, including synthesis of the theoretical underpinnings, empirical basis, transformation strategy, understanding of context and backgrounds, relevance of case studies, planning of and learnings from the iterative development process, critical reflections, possible economic foundations, and future perspectives. 4. Relations, processes and organization: Quality of relations and processes with the project team, collaborators, partners, stakeholders and other actors. Management of time, resources, and persons (project management). 5. Storytelling: Effectiveness and potential in communicating the project to relevant publics. Quality of presentation techniques and narrative. How well the story attracts attention, convinces and touches audiences. Defence of proposition and response to critics. How elements and qualities discussed under 2 – 5 are contributing to (or hindering) emancipatory social-ecological transformation (criterium #1).

Bibliografia obbligatoria

Brave New Alps, Elzenbaumer, B., Franz, F. (2021). Design(ers) Beyond Precarity: proposals for everyday action. Design Struggles: Intersecting Histories, Pedagogies, and Perspectives.

Bollier, D. (2024). Challenges in Expanding the Commonsverse. International Journal of the Commons, 18(1), pp. 288–301.DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/ijc.1389

Chatzidakis, A., Hakim, J., Litter, J., & Rottenberg, C. (2020). The Care manifesto: The politics of interdependence. Verso Books.

Haug, F. (2009). The “Four-in-One Perspective”: A Manifesto for a More Just Life, Socialism and Democracy, 23:1, 119-123, DOI: 10.1080/08854300802635932

Groos, J., & Sorg, C. (2025). Creative Construction. Policy Press.

Habermann, F. (2024). Overcoming Exploitation and Externalisation. An Intersectional Theory of Hegemony and Transformation, Taylor & Francis

Helfrich, D., Bollier, D. (2019). Free, Fair, and Alive – The Insurgent Power of the Commons, New Society Publishers.

ILA Kollektiv (2019). At the Expense of Others? How the imperial mode of living prevents a good life for all. oekom, Munich (PDF)

Int. Research G. on Authoritarianism and Counter-Strategies kollektiv orangotango (eds. 2024). Beyond Molotovs – A Visual Handbook of Anti-Authoritarian Strategies. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag

Pater, R. (2021). Caps Lock: How Capitalism Took Hold of Graphic Design, and How to Escape from It. Valiz Press.

Potter, W. (2024, October 29). Statement Guide to Counter the Far-Right. The Commons Library. (LINK)

Saito, K. (2024). Slow Down. The Degrowth Manifesto. Astra Publishing House

Bafta, S. & Mendívil, E. R. (2025). The Diversity of Exploitation. On the Critique of Dominant Antiracism. Brill

Shiva, D. V., Jafri, AH., Bedi, G., & Hollar-Bhar, R. (1997). The Enclosure and Recovery of the Commons: Biodiversity, Indigenous Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights. Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology.

Wizinsky, M. (2022). Design after Capitalism. Transforming Design Today for an Equitable Tomorrow. The MIT Press

Tufekci, Z. (2017). Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest. Yale University Press, USA.

Tsing, A. L. (2015). The Mushroom at the End of the World - On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton: Princeton University Press,

Constaza-Chock, S. (2020) Design Justice - Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need, MIT Press.

Chapman, J. (2021) Meaningful Stuff: Design That Lasts. MIT press.

Wakkary, R. (2021). Things We could Design - For More than Human-centred worlds. MIT press.

Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Penguin Books.

Avila, M. (2022). Designing for Interdependence: A Poetics of Relating. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Egmose, J.; Hauggaard-Nielsen, H. & Gaarsmand Jacobsen, S. (2022) Action research in the plural crisis of the living: understanding, envisioning, practicing, organising eco-social transformation, Educational Action Research, 30:4, 671-683, DOI: 10.1080/09650792.2022.2084433

Numans, W., Boog, J., Van Regenmortel, T., & Schalk, R. (2023). Examining the Co-impact of Participatory Action-Oriented Research. Bringing Hidden effects to the Surface. A Case Study. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 22. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069231199948

Robles Lomeli, J., & Rappaport, J. (2018). Imagining Latin American Social Science from the Global South: Orlando Fals Borda and Participatory Action Research. Latin American Research Review, 53(3), 597-612. doi:10.25222/larr.164

Santos, B. de S. (2016) Epistemologies of the South¿: justice against epistemicide. [Online]. London: Routledge.

Schön, D. A. (2011) The Reflective Practitioner: how professionals think in action. Paperback ed., reprinted. Aldershot [etc: Ashgate.

Smith, L. T. (2022) Decolonizing methodologies research and indigenous peoples. Third edition. London [etc: Bloomsbury Academic.

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Obiettivi di sviluppo sostenibile
Questa attività didattica contribuisce al raggiungimento dei seguenti Obiettivi di Sviluppo sostenibile.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Modules

Semestre 1 · 96103A · Corso di laurea magistrale in Design eco-sociale · 9CFU · EN

Module A — Design 3

The course is led by a team of three teachers: a design researcher together with design practitioners, covering the areas Objects–Spaces-Services and Communication–Interaction–Services. They collaborate closely in providing input, facilitating learning experiences and coaching students. Both students and teachers foster transdisciplinary dialogue and actions, among others by involving teachers of the courses of the areas Observe, Analyse & Apply and of Make & Intervene. Additionally, the project teachers organize the Master Colloquia, where external experts from civil society, companies, organisations and institutions are invited to discuss the students’ projects.

The project leaders collaborate closely with Design Research related to Project 3.
The project leader in Communication–Interaction–Services focuses in particular on communication strategies, media tactics, experience design, interaction and/or service design bringing in best practice from socially, politically and environmentally engaged design.

The project leader in Objects–Spaces–Services supports the development of each student’s project and practices, in particular, related to the design of objects, spaces and/or services bringing in best practice from socially, politically and environmentally engaged design.

The project leader collaborates closely with "Design Research related to project 3" module.

Docenti: Christian Krois, Secil Ugur Yavuz

Ore didattica frontale: 90 (for each module)
Ore di laboratorio: 0

Argomenti dell'insegnamento
A (CIS – Communication-Interaction-Services): Theories, strategies and practices of emancipatory social-ecological transformation Communication design Outreach strategies B (OSS – Objects - Spaces - Services): Relational Design Material Agency Techno-ecologies and post-humanism

Modalità di insegnamento
- Lectures, presentations, workshops - Weekly check-in sessions - Collective mapping sessions - Review and support sessions - Guest lectures - (Im)possible partner meetings (A conversational format for engaging with transformation-oriented actors who may become project partners.) - Site explorations - Case study sharing and analysis - Reading circles - Master colloquia with external experts (a feedback session supporting students in developing their thesis project proposal)