In Pursuit of Design-led Transitions

This paper contributes to the growing maturity of transition design. A Dutch transition design project with the Dutch Government and food sector is presented and reveals the challenges of designing at a system level. Reflection on the project reveals two insights that were not factored within the project but in retrospect require the attention of transition designers; (1) the timing of the transition relative to the surrounding environment and; (2) the velocity or speed at which a transition can be fully enacted. The paper shifts to investigating change theories to identify possible directions to address these challenges. Theoretical implications are concluded from this investigation. This paper deals with politics, power, democracy, leadership, and enablers and inhibitors of change.