- People , Research
- 23/10/2024
Exploring future energy scenarios during DDW
TU/e researcher Nikki Kluskens and designer Lisa Mandemaker are presenting their joint project at Dutch Design Week 2024: the Energy Futures Prep Pack. The project explores the role energy plays in people’s daily lives and how they envision different energy futures. For example, what would the world look like without electricity?
The innovative project Energy Futures Prep Pack is presented during Dutch Design Week 2024 as part of the Collaborations for Future exhibition. In this program, a designer is paired with a scientist and they are given the freedom to work out different ways in which they could collaborate within the context of climate change.
One of these collaborations is between PhD researcher Nikki Kluskens from TU/e’s Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences and designer Lisa Mandemaker. Together, they have developed a unique way to explore the future of energy.
A good match
PhD researcher Nikki Kluskens is part of the TIS research group (Technology, Innovation and Society) at the Department of IE&IS. Her research focuses on the social aspect of the energy transition. “Think of topics such as public support, civic participation and social inequality,” she says.
Lisa Mandemaker specializes in speculative design, a design method to make potential future scenarios tangible. Climate issues have become an important theme in her work as of last year. “I try to engage a broad audience to reflect on this, so that the topic is not limited to the academic and technical worlds.”
There is a good reason why the two women were paired up; both are exploring the impact of technology on people’s (future) lives. After their first meeting, it was immediately clear that they were a good match. “We bring different areas of expertise, but we soon agreed on the direction of the project,” says Kluskens.
Practical assignments
Their project serves as a cultural probe, a design technique in which people record their experiences and feelings in a creative way to give designers insight into their daily lives. For example, they asked ten participants to imagine a world where electricity is no longer a given, and to prepare for possible energy futures.
To that end, they designed the Energy Futures Prep Pack, which transports participants to a future without electricity through questions and practical assignments. Every day for one week, participants were asked to complete different assignments and answer questions by taking pictures, drawing, or writing something down. They were guided in the process by different future scenarios. All of this helped them reflect on the meaning of energy in their daily lives and decide which aspects they would like to retain in the future and which they would rather leave behind.
A rainbow of options
The results of this unique exploration, along with three specially written energy stories, are presented during the Energy Futures exhibition. This exhibition offers an opportunity to reflect on how we, as individuals and communities, can better prepare for an uncertain energy future.
“It’s interesting to get a glimpse into people’s lives like this,” Mandemaker feels. “It also invites people to engage in a deeper conversation about possible energy futures,” Kluskens adds. “In a world that demands clear yes or no answers, we show that not everything is black and white. There’s a rainbow of options, which offers a lot of room for discussion.”
For more information about the exhibition, location and opening hours, visit the Dutch Design Week website.
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