FM Cartographic Explorations: Water edition
INTRODUCTION
Water often goes unnoticed in our daily lives, yet it is a vital resource that embodies a range of qualities—it can be threatening, calming, comforting, healing, transformative, invigorating, refreshing, and life-giving. In many cultures, water symbolizes purity and cleansing, serving as a powerful metaphor for forgiveness and rebirth. As a means of movement and transport, water connects people and places, facilitating trade and travel that shape societies. Its importance becomes strikingly evident during times of scarcity, revealing the conflicts that arise when competing interests clash over access to this essential resource. In essence, water is multifaceted and rich with paradoxes, central to the health of our planet and communities, calling us to recognize its power and protect this precious resource.
Social Innovation Lab x Waterschap de Dommel
The Focus Module Cartographic Explorations is a research-oriented course initiated by DAE’s Social Innovation Lab that introduces research strategies and skills as an addition to your design toolkit. Various cartographic techniques and fieldwork approaches are explored to conduct design research through an eco-social lens and critically engage with both quantitative and qualitative data crafting speculative designs and scenarios for societal change and awareness.
The Water Authority de Dommel, responsible for wastewater treatment and water management in the catchment area of the De Dommel river, will contribute to this course. Experts from the Water Authority will share insights into their efforts to improve water quality, prevent flooding, and mitigate droughts. In 2020, the Water Authority outlined the "Water Transition" based on three guiding principles: 1. Every drop counts, 2. Clean water should remain clean, and 3. Using the right water in the right place—integrating landscape, soil, and water in spatial planning. This translates to the notion that not everything can be done everywhere.
The Water Transition recognizes that traditional methods are insufficient to address the challenges posed by climate change and increasingly intensive land use due to a growing population. New approaches are necessary, ones that include improvements in wastewater treatment and water management, while also engaging end-users, residents, industries, and farmers. Consequently, both technical and social innovations will be essential over the coming decades to effectively implement the Water Transition, creating an increasing demand for designers to play a key role in this transition.
In this course we will explore pressing challenges such as water scarcity, pollution (including plastic), inequitable access, climate change, aging infrastructure, and the effects of rapid population growth. We will also examine agricultural demands and the conflicts that arise from competition over shared water resources. Engaging with the critical role that water plays in our daily lives and our relationship with the environment, we will seek tangible ways to express this connection through visual, experiential, and poetic mediums. By illustrating how our behaviours and daily choices impact water demand, wastewater generation, and pollution, we aim to foster awareness.
This course will feature regional field research conducted on the grounds of Waterschap de Dommel, providing you with unique opportunities to engage with experts and gain firsthand insights into local water management challenges. For example, there will be an excursion to the municipal wastewater treatment plant. This visit will provide an overview of the Water Authority’s activities through a presentation and a tour of the wastewater treatment facility. Here, the wastewater from a large part of the region, including the Design Academy Eindhoven, is treated before it flows into the De Dommel river.
In addition, guest lecturers will talk about their research, that, for example, address the anthropological aspects of water, examining how different cultures treat and utilize this vital resource, for instance in rituals. You will receive masterclasses from design researchers working with water and you will work with data related to water, learning to create compelling maps, visualizations, and counter-maps.
During the midterm, you will present your work in progress to water experts, hydrologists, biologists, innovators, and others at Waterschap de Dommel. As we enter a multi-year collaboration with the Water Authority, there will be opportunities to further explore this subject throughout your graduation. Additionally, if your project is selected there is an opportunity to showcase your work at the Water Embassy during Dutch Design Week.
TUTOR TEAM
Dr. Naomi Bueno de Mesquita
Researcher at the crossroads of design, art, anthropology, and philosophy, with a particular focus on cartography and emerging technologies. At DAE, Naomi is lector of the Readership on Social Innovation (SI-LAB). Using participatory methodologies, the lab actively engages a diverse array of stakeholders in addressing complex transition challenges and shaping decision-making processes. Collaborating with institutional partners such as municipal and provincial governments, as well as organizations like Rijkswaterstaat, the lab provides expert guidance on participatory design strategies, effectively integrating social innovation with both organizational and technological advancements. Naomi earned her PhD from KU Leuven/LUCA School of Arts (Belgium) in 2022, focusing on the intersection of critical cartography and design research. Her doctoral work examines the potential and implications of digital technologies in map creation and use, exploring how map apps can foster participation in public spaces and public issues. https://www.designacademy.nl/page/6715/professorship-design-and-social-innovation
Isis Boot
Social designer and concept developer with a background in design (DAE) and human geography (Radboud University, University of Vienna). Her expertise lies in urban development and architecture, community building, and participatory practices, with a keen interest in embedding social ecosystems within these contexts. Isis aims to foster interdisciplinary cross-pollination between socio-spatial sciences, design, and society to promote critical thinking and drive societal transitions. She is deeply committed to immersing herself in the environments she studies, allowing her to connect theory with practice. In her work, Isis adeptly blends qualitative research methodologies with design practices, creating innovative tools and approaches for applied projects. Her projects often involve collaborations with governments, consultancy firms, architects, and developers, where she facilitates interdisciplinary dialogue and contributes to the development of socially responsive and sustainable urban environments.
Niene Boeijen
Geo-scientist, digital cartographer and web map developer. Next to being a technological skilled web cartographer she is a critical thinker with backgrounds in arts and design. She has designed and developed several (interactive) maps of the Netherlands; from geo-data processing, back-end and applications to the cartographic visualisations. Hereby she has experience with several Dutch open geo-datasets, Openstreetmap data and skills in all kinds of open source GIS tools. https://nieneb.nl/online-projects/
WORKING METHOD
This focus module consists of three tracks: a skill-building track, a theoretical input track, and a project development track.
The skill-building track emphasizes essential competencies such as conducting field research, utilizing tracking devices, working with various data types, and transforming that data into engaging visualizations, maps, or counter-maps. You will collaborate with two primary tutors and two additional tutors who will offer master classes. Throughout the course, you will learn to work with diverse forms of data—including qualitative, quantitative, hard, and soft data—and how to effectively integrate field research with digital methods. This includes utilizing tools such as GPS tracking and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
The theoretical track provides a long list of (guest)lectures and literature references designed to deepen your understanding and inform your practice.
The project track encourages you to delve into a personal interest related to the topic, culminating in a research project that delivers a tangible outcome. This includes thorough documentation of your process and guidance on effectively presenting your research.
The project may take various forms, such as a mapping initiative, a conversation piece, a dialogic tool, or other creative outputs. While the outcome can be open-ended, equal emphasis is placed on the research process itself and the presentation of your findings.
In the initial stages of the course, the skill-building and theoretical tracks are emphasized, while they gradually recede in prominence towards the end. Conversely, the project track starts less prominently but becomes the central focus as the course progresses.
References and Inspiration
Drinkwaterplatform. (2021). Over de watertransitie. Retrieved March 21, 2025, from https://www.drinkwaterplatform.nl/themas/watertransitie/over-de-watertransitie/
Driesse, M. (2023). Leaving dry land: Water, heritage, and imaginary agency. Doctoral dissertation, Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis.
Hamers, D., van de Wiel, E., Adriaanse, J., & Verstraete, G. (2021). A Caring Confrontation: Re-Ordering as a Design Research Strategy Toward a Circular City. GeoHumanities, 8(1), 250-264.https://doi.org/10.1080/2373566X.2021.1915700
Morrison, A. (Ed.)., (2023). Design Futures Literacies: Essays & Reflections (vol.2). Oslo: AHO/ FUEL4DESIGN: Available: http://www.fuel4design.org/index.php/design-futures-manual/#dfl-ebooks
Westerlaken, M. (2020). Imagining Multispecies Worlds. Doctoral dissertation, Malmö University. Available: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-17424
https://www.tomloois.nl/portfolio/de-dude-in-de-dommel/
A project by Tom Loois. The Dude in the Dommel is a brand activation and communication strategy for Waterboard the Dommel that aims to connect with the target audience by means of a real-life conversation. By stationing an employee of the Waterboard literally in the Dommel River, passers-by are able to react upon the absurd situation of a man sitting at his desk in a river.
https://issuu.com/designacademy/docs/gocawh_si-lab_report_
This report outlines research by Design Academy Eindhoven for the GO-CAWH project, commissioned by Rijkswaterstaat, from September 2023 to January 2025. The project tackles the challenge of balancing water supply and demand among various stakeholders, especially amid climate change impacts on water availability. It aims to develop Climate Adaptive Water Hubs (CAWHs) around highways, offering scalable solutions for effective water management.
https://issuu.com/strategiccreativity/docs/12_let_stalkwater_dae_issuu_e1ff4af4a6db07
A publication of the research for Let’s Talk Water, a collaboration of Design Academy Eindhoven with partners Woonbedriif, a social housing corporation, Waterschap De Dommel, the regional water board for the Eindhoven region, and with the residents of the Geestenberg neighbourhood in Eindhoven.
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/728518c5923840cfb1336eb39c06b248
A recent tool for cooperation with external parties to start a conversation on how water, soil and landscape are incorporated in planning and project such as building new houses, extending industrial area’s, deciding on crop rotations in agriculture, where to have recreation, golfcourses, nature etc.
https://ddw.nl/en/programme/13189/connectie-met-water-als-entiteit-in-de-omgeving
Embassy of Water at DDW 2024
https://www.worlddesignembassies.com/en/topics/embassy-tour-op-waterbasis/
Embassy of Water at DDW 2023
Signs of Change
A futures speculation toolkit and facilitation process designed by Bettina Schwalm, leveraging public-facing signage as critical artifacts for communities to critically explore the effects of climate disrupted futures and implications of emerging products/systems/services.
https://www.ambassadevandenoordzee.nl/
The Embassy of the North Sea, founded on the principle of the North Sea owning itself, advocates for
direct political representation, prioritising the voices of all life forms within it, with a roadmap through 2030 focusing on listening to and eventually negotiating on behalf of the sea and its diverse
inhabitants.
https://www.archiprix.nl/national/?project=4195 Het Doggersland. De kraamkamer van de Noordzee.
Ziega van den Berk's wind farm design for the Dogger Bank in the North Sea embraces the energy
challenge by integrating considerations for the existing landscape and marine life, aiming to enhance
the ecosystem from the scale of the entire Dogger landscape down to the wind turbine base.
Urban Futures Studio
The Urban Futures Studio at Utrecht University explores sustainable and democratically meaningful futures through 'futuring', the social construction of imagined futures guiding collective action, operating as a transdisciplinary institute in partnership with policymakers, activists, artists, and students to foster alternative pathways for achieving them.
RE-source
A design-research project by Dr. David Hamers, Ester van de Wiel, Joost Adriaanse, Jos Klarenbeek, and Ginette Verstraete analyzes urban residual flows to devise strategies for converting them into reusable resources within a circular economy framework, involving various actors and employing RE-framing to integrate these flows effectively.
The Layers of a Place
Example of Deep mapping performed by University of Rhode Island. Modern technology connects communities to the cultural, historial, and ecological significance of a place.
Anna Galloway´s podcast “Speculative Design and Glass Slaughterhouses”
Smart Forests project
How are forests becoming digital environments? The Smart Forests project investigates the social-political impacts of digital technologies that monitor and govern forest environments.
Eva Meijer on Observing & Sensing.
Eva Meijer emphasizes the importance of listening to animal voices, introducing methods to bridge the gap between the human and non-human realms.
https://senseable.mit.edu/trashtrack/
Why do we know so much about the supply chain and so little about the ‘removal-chain’? Maps to build consciousness about where our trash goes to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmdkYXX9rcI Portrait of a River (2024) YouTube.
For generations, the Dutch have relied on the Dommel for trade and agriculture, shaping its course to suit their needs. However, as climate change looms large, the consequences of this manipulation have come to haunt the region. Devastating floods and severe droughts threaten the very fabric of life along the river, urging residents to seek solutions for a sustainable tomorrow and to restore nature’s balance.
As we navigate the twists and turns of the Dommel's story, one thing becomes clear – the power of collective action to shape a brighter future. From the bustling city of Eindhoven to the tranquil countryside, the Dommel unites residents in a shared purpose: to ensure that nature's symphony continues to echo through the ages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhBuU74Pl7 Building with Nature (2024) YouTube.
How does water pollution affect us? Film directed by Franz Fitzks that shifts the focus from history to present-day applications of Viktor Schauberger's innovative concepts in water research, showcasing projects from five countries over two years. Schauberger, a pioneer in modern water science, warned against unchecked environmental exploitation and promoted understanding nature to develop sustainable energy solutions. The PKS Villa in Bad Ischl, Austria, serves as a seminar center dedicated to his research, featuring a collection of scientific prototypes and hands-on experiments that demonstrate the principles of water manipulation in harmony with nature.
https://www.designacademy.nl/page/6775/focus-module-inclusive-futures-studies
Focus Module Cartographic Explorations 2024-2025