[Vol.1_EN]Exploring Ways to Create a Sustainable Future: Transition Design Lab!
"Mount Fuji still without its first snow cap in November" - this is reportedly the latest first snowfall in 130 years of observations. During this time of deepening autumn, when mornings should typically feel chilly, this year remains somewhat warm, and as we walk up the slope to the Ohashi Laboratory at Institute of Science Tokyo, we continue to experience strange feelings while basking in the pleasant autumn sunlight.
The annually rising temperatures and unusual weather conditions that seem to break records every year make us acutely aware that global challenges like climate change are right at our doorstep. These changes affect not only our path to the laboratory but also our daily lives and industries, prompting us to fundamentally reconsider our existing systems and values.
Climate change, believed to be the cause of the annually increasing temperatures, is a global issue affecting not only our pace to the lab but also our daily lives and industries. While efforts towards a solution are urgently needed worldwide, this problem, intertwined with various factors, is extremely difficult to solve, and there is no longer a single clear solution. What we should aim for is a system-level transformation that goes beyond the existing social framework. It is against this background that the "Transition Design" approach was born, aiming to reconstruct the entire system for a transition to a sustainable future.
At the Ohashi Laboratory of Institute of Science Tokyo, we are working on various themes such as agriculture and food, disaster prevention and urban development, and human resource development in the semiconductor industry using this Transition Design approach. Since summer 2024, our laboratory has established the Transition Design Lab, and through this note, we will collect academic insights related to Transition Design, discuss them within the laboratory, and disseminate the findings sequentially.
The Need for Transition Design
The modern society we live in faces complex, serious, and global societies and ecological problems. Historically, many human societies have experienced significant challenges, but their impacts were limited in terms of affected regions and duration. However, recent challenges have long-term effects not only on the next generation and the one after that but also on ecosystems including non-human elements. In this way, current socio-technical systems are unsustainable in many aspects.
For example, the automotive industry provides convenient means of transportation but faces environmental pollution problems due to massive gasoline consumption and exhaust emissions. Moreover, the mass production and disposal of plastic products are causing serious impacts on marine pollution and ecosystems.
In addition to these global issues, there are many social challenges. For instance, many regions lack sufficient provision of basic social infrastructure such as clean water, food, energy, healthcare, education, social equality, income, and employment. Addressing these challenges requires a fundamental and transformative reconstruction of current socio-technical systems.
Transition Design is a comprehensive approach that questions or redefines existing frameworks, values, and customs, aiming not only for technological innovation but also institutional, organizational, and socio-cultural transformation. Specifically, it proceeds with the following process, working with diverse stakeholders to transition towards a sustainable society:
1. Present Wicked Problems: Deepening common understanding of the current state of existing socio-technical systems.
2. Preferable Future: Developing visions for ideal situations or desirable futures.
3. Theory of Change: Constructing a "theory of change," which is a transformation path towards the future, based on the formulated vision.
Based on this "Theory of Change," we conduct social experiments and form necessary ecosystems while advancing concrete activities towards transformation. Transition Design serves as a powerful tool to realize the transition to a sustainable society in cooperation with diverse stakeholders.
What Transition Design Lab does
The "Transition Design Lab" will interpret related papers and explain the insights gained from them. Through this, we aim to promote methodologies for realizing a sustainable society. Additionally, Transition Design is an interdisciplinary field positioned at the intersection of social sciences, innovation studies, design studies, and management studies. In this note series, we plan to introduce academic fields and cases broadly related to transitions under the theme of "transformation towards a sustainable society." Please look forward to it.Structure of the Article Series
Structure of the Article Series
In this series, we plan to cover the following topics in order:
Academic trends in Transition Design and related fields
Specific case studies and their explanations
Practical examples and their results
In each article, we will provide easy-to-understand explanations of related papers and research, offering valuable information to our readers. We plan to deliver exciting content, so please look forward to it.
Introduction of the Writers
Here, let us introduce ourselves, the writers of this series.
Summary
To realize a sustainable society, it is important for each of us to learn new knowledge and take action. We hope that this note series will contribute to understanding and promoting Transition Design as one of the methodologies.
Author of this article: Takumi Ohashi
Editor: Maoko Fujisaki, Yutaka Osaki