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Social Innovation Lab (SI-LAB)

The Professorship in Social Innovation (also SI-LAB) focuses on addressing social innovation within the context of transition challenges. It views social innovation as a crucial component for the development of technological solutions in these scenarios, yet acknowledges a current gap in understanding its significance and implementation. To bridge this gap, the professorship collaborates with institutional partners such as municipalities, provinces, and governmental bodies like Rijkswaterstaat. Together, they explore the challenges these entities face and offer expertise in participatory design strategies.

The lab's researchers bring diverse expertise across various disciplines, including cartographic methods, participatory design, social sciences, archival research, GIS, and geo-technology.

PROJECTS

The Social Innovation Lab (SI-LAB) is involved in projects that lie at the intersection of research-education, education-society, and society-research (see Figure 1). Each circle in Figure 1 represents a project strategically positioned along the axes. The triangle next to each circle uses a greyscale to indicate the project’s phase: black for completed projects, medium grey for ongoing projects, and white for preliminary ones. The texture within each circle reflects the scope, distinguishing between institutional, regional, or interregional projects. Some projects combine multiple scopes. The names of the collaborating organisations are listed alongside each circle, and the output generated to date, such as (peer-reviewed) publications, paper or poster presentations, exhibitions, or workshops/events, is indicated next to the triangle.

PROJECTS IN THE RESEARCH-EDUCATION NEXUS

(running 2024-current)
[Essay for Centre Pompidou] (September 2025)

PROJECTS IN THE EDUCATION-SOCIETY NEXUS

EXPLANATION OF THE AXES AND DIMENSIONS

By strategically positioning projects along the axes of Education, Research, and Society, the chart demonstrates a holistic approach to social innovation that is responsive to diverse perspectives, scales, and contexts:

  • On the intersection of the axes Education and Research projects aim to bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical applications in educational institutions, promoting dynamic exchanges that ensure research informs education and vice versa.
  • The intersection of the axes Education and Society focuses on leveraging education as a catalyst for social change, with initiatives that promote social innovation through community engagement and participation.
  • Society and Research projects emphasize investigating societal issues through empirical methods such as ethnography and GIS cartography within design research, where societal challenges shape the research questions, and the research outcomes contribute to understanding these challenges better.

Projects have either an Institutional, Regional or Interregional scope:

  • The Institutional scope stands for projects that focus on knowledge exchange in academic setting.
  • The Regional scope stands for participatory approaches, collaborating with local stakeholders and organisations to tackle regional challenges.
  • The Interregional scope stands for tackling social issues that cross regional or national boundaries. They employ comparative analyses and transnational collaborations to tackle shared challenges such as water scarcity.

 

 

OUR PUBLICATIONS

Bueno de Mesquita, N. (forthcoming). Knowledge Systems for Design Research. In O. Merhav (Ed.), Material Driven Practices. Centre Pompidou: Kandinsky Library.

Neef, R., Bueno de Mesquita, N., Leenderste, W., & Boeijen, N. (2024, June). Balancing institutional and participatory space in the management of water imbalance: A dual institutional and participatory design perspective. Paper presented at the WETsus Economy for the Common Good International Conference, Leeuwarden, Fryslân, The Netherlands. https://www.wetsus.nl/app/uploads/2024/08/ECGIC-2024_Papers-Day-1.pdf

Bueno de Mesquita, N. (2024). Mapping als Gestaltungsstrategie: Forschung und transformative Produktion miteinander verweben. In E. Krasny, B, Büscher & L. Ortman (Eds.), Porös-Werden: Geteilte Räume, urbane Dramaturgien, performatives Kuratieren (pp. 211-221). Wien: Tuira & Kant. (Free acces via https://www.turia.at/titel/poroes.php)

Bueno de Mesquita, N. (2022). Manifesto for a Design Research framework. Design Academy Eindhoven.

Bueno de Mesquita, N. (2022). Digital Performative Mapping [Doctoral dissertation, KU Leuven/LUCA School of Arts]. KU Leuven Research Repository

Bueno de Mesquita, N., Cila, N., Groen, M., & Meys, W. (2018). Socio-technical Systems for Citizen Empowerment: How to Mediate Between Different Expectations and Levels of Participation in the Design of Civic Apps. International Journal of Electronic Governance, 10(2), 172-195.

Golchehr, S. & Bueno de Mesquita, N. (2018). Data-driven Design for Civic Participation. In O. Devisch, L. Huybrechts & R. De Ridder (Eds.), Participatory Design Theory (pp. 56-70). Oxon: Routledge.

Bueno de Mesquita, N. & Hamers, D. (2017). Mapping Invisibility, RTD Conference, 27, 423-437

Hamers, D. Bueno de Mesquita, N. Vaneycken, A., & Schoffelen, J. (Eds.). (2017). Trading Places: Practices of Public Participation in Art and Design Research. Barcelona, Spain: dpr-Barcelona

Golchehr, S. & Bueno de Mesquita, N. (2015, May 21-22). Introducing Digital Methods For On-going Engagement for Design in Public Space: How Mining and Mapping Social Media Data Can Help Inform Spatial Designers About a Local Context. [Paper presentation]. Design, Social Media and Technology to Foster Civic Self-Organisation Conference, Hasselt, Belgium.

MEET THE TEAM

Research Coordination SI–LAB
Tutor and Supervisor Focus Module Cartographic Explorations
Research Associate SI–LAB
Research Associate SI–LAB

FORMER TEAM MEMBERS

Niene Boeijen
Former Research Associate in GO-CAWH Project. SI–LAB: March 2024/March 2025 and Former Tutor Focus Module Cartographic Explorations Sep 2023/Feb 2024 and Cartographic Explorations: Inclusive Future Studies Sep 2024/Feb 2025

Anne Vader
Former Research Associate in GO-CAWH Project. SI–LAB: Sep 2024/Jan 2025

Olga Korosteleva
Former Research Associate in Colonies of Benevolence Project. SI–LAB: Jun 2024/Jan 2025

Lucas Zoutendijk
Former Research Associate in GO-CAWH Project. SI–LAB: Sep 2023/Feb 2024

Neeltje ten Westenend
Former Tutor of Focus Module Cartographic Explorations Sep 2023/Feb 2024

Keywords

GET IN TOUCH

Do you have questions or want to inquire about a possible collaboration? Then reach out to us via the coordinator of the Lab, Toni Wagner under toni.wagner@designacademy.nl

(We do not offer PhD positions at the moment)

Header Image: Anwyn Howarth