What if… we could drink from nature again?
We are looking for a systems-oriented, socially engaged and transition-focused designer or design studio to act as a quartermaster in a future where clean drinking water is not only technically secured, but emerges from a healthy and resilient ecosystem.
Ideally, this is a designer with experience in regenerative design and Nature-Based Solutions, and with a strong connection to West-Friesland or Noord-Holland.
Context: a system under pressure and out of sight
Clean drinking water and a healthy natural environment are increasingly under pressure due to climate change, pollution and spatial planning choices. As a result, the water system is reaching its ecological and societal limits. Yet in everyday life, this reality remains largely invisible: water still flows from the tap as if it were guaranteed.
This invisibility is not only embedded in the physical system underground, but also in the way it is organised and experienced. The drinking water system is a complex network of nature, infrastructure, organisations and users, in which everyone only sees part of the whole. Even within PWN, certain dependencies and tensions remain partially out of sight, making it difficult to grasp the system as a whole and putting shared responsibility under pressure.
The design question
How can we make visible what is currently invisible, so that people reconnect with water and nature and take shared responsibility for a healthy living environment?
We are not looking for a technical solution, but for a design process that opens up new perspectives on the system itself, on our role within it, and on new forms of collaboration and ownership.
What will you do?
Design research
You will explore the hidden layers of the water system: the vulnerability of the source, the role of nature as the foundation of drinking water production, and the technical and societal effort behind “clean water from the tap”. You make visible what is normally hidden.
System exploration
You map dependencies, tensions and blind spots between nature, infrastructure, organisations and users, and translate these into new insights and perspectives.
Towards an actionable perspective
You will not develop a final product, but a working and evolving perspective that can be tested, imagined, and further developed in practice.
Who are we looking for?
A systems-oriented and socially engaged designer or design studio who wishes to position themselves as a quartermaster in a multi-year, exploratory learning trajectory.
We are not looking for a designer who solves a question, but for someone who:
- can read and reimagine complex and partly invisible systems
- can connect perspectives between nature, infrastructure and society
- can use tension and uncertainty as a design space
- can explore new forms of collaboration and ownership
You are comfortable working with uncertainty and see design not only as a tool for analysis, but also as a way to make systems tangible and discussable.
Experience with systems thinking, transition processes and regenerative or Nature-Based approaches is important. A connection to West-Friesland or Noord-Holland is considered an advantage.
Interested?
Does this challenge resonate with you? Then please apply here. Applications are open until 4 May, 23:59.
Questions?
Email Lab Manager Janne Spork: janne.spork@dutchdesignfoundation.com