Author: Mieke

My name is Dr. Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer and I am an independent researcher, speaker, author and teacher in transdisciplinarity and human-centred & systemic design practices for social innovation. I study these practices, apply them to societal challenges, and share this knowledge through my publications, education and talks. As owner of Meerkat Consultancy I provide training and advice about various social innovation methods and practices to public and private organisations. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to know more and/or would like to collaborate.

Last year, I was invited by Karyn Zuidinga and Rob Brodnick to talk to them on their Positive Turbulence podcast. In the episode, Karyn and Rob explain, “we delve into the intricate world of systemic design. Systemic design merges systems thinking with design theory to address complex challenges not by dissecting them into smaller parts but by enhancing their interactions. Mieke explains how this approach can transform organizational behaviors and lead to significant societal shifts. From rethinking university systems for better student well-being to using visual tools for collaborative problem-solving, we explore how systemic design fosters deeper understanding and innovation. Join us as we uncover the potential of thinking in systems, revealing how interconnected perspectives can lead to meaningful change.” Listen to the episode here: https://www.positiveturbulence.com/podcasts/interconnected-exploring-the-world-through-systemic-design/

I recently left my job at TU Delft. While this was a bit of a shock to my colleagues, for me it was just another step on my journey. At my farewell, I tried to explain this through a story that I wrote for my colleagues. You can find it here on Medium: https://medium.com/@miekevanderbijl/from-here-to-there-the-non-linearity-of-careers-41e7d0a208da

It’s about time we explained what we mean with ‘systemic design’. Four years ago we founded a Systemic Design Lab at TU Delft where we explore how systems thinking might support designing for complex challenges. Since the opening of the lab we have had many conversations with colleagues, students and other designers about what systemic design is and why we need it. We’re also increasingly being told it is a fad and that we are overpromising what it can do. Fair enough, we have probably not been very clear about what it is and what we claim it can achieve. So what is it that systemic designers design, why do they design these things and how do they do it? Well, that depends on who you ask. In this blog post on Medium, I introduce a few different perspectives on the topic

How we can design for human relationships to positively enable systemic change? In a rapidly changing world, organisations, communities, and social networks need to be able to continuously adapt. From complex systems theory we learn that strong human relationships are at the core of such adaptive behaviour, and promote mutual learning, collective creativity and motivation. But what can we do to shape these relationships? In the study presented in this article I explored how design expertise can be used to design conditions – e.g. services, platforms and events – that enable positive human relationships. I also argue that an understanding of complex systems behaviour and  of the role of human relationships might help professionals with design expertise to more intentionally design for complex systemic change. The study is one of the reasons we are now developing a course ‘designing for complexity’ for our master students. I would also love to know if the ideas presented in the paper resonate with design practitioners.

http://www.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/4121/974

Since the outbreak of the COVID19-pandemic we have been working on promoting student wellbeing in higher education. In this Medium blog post I share my perspective on the interconnection between learning, wellbeing and human connection.

https://medium.com/@miekevanderbijl/learning-is-joy-wellbeing-challenges-in-pandemic-higher-education-f74aaae67ec4

On October 26th I presented some of my work on systemic design practices at the Service Design Days Challenge at the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. I talked about the practices of developing a systemic perspective on the problem, designing for evolution, designing for human relationships, and designing for mental models. This is the slide deck of my presentation. You can find references to the articles I referred to in the talk on the last slide.

I will be speaking about my research in systemic design at the Service Design Challenge at the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on the 26th of October 2019. Get your tickets here: http://servicedesigndays.com/challenge-dutch-design-week-2019/