This research uses systemic design to develop interventions for sustainable change in a business context. The primary objective is to address the communication and translation of systemic insights into practical business actions. Bridging the gap between research and practice is a major challenge in effectively communicating systemic insights and guiding actionable decision-making. Therefore, the research question guiding this study is: “How can systemic insights be effectively translated into feasible actions for businesses?” To address this question, a combination of established methods was applied in the business case study of sustainable parenthood. The systemic analysis involved defining system boundaries, gathering data through desk research and interviews with business stakeholders, and creating a causal loop diagram. Further, Donella Meadows’ theory was applied to identify leverage points for behavioural change strategies. To make the complexity of the system map and its leverage points comprehensible for stakeholders, it was translated into a story map and subsequently into insight cards. In-depth validation and analysis of the systemic insights were done through qualitative user interviews (n=10). The main contribution of this paper is the use of insight cards, which offer a tangible and accessible format for conveying systemic insights. The cards allow the communication of complex systemic language and bridge research and practice. However, while insight cards were a valuable tool for the development of concrete solutions, further strategic considerations are needed. Thus, the study highlights the need for further research in effective communication strategies and systemic language to facilitate the translation of systemic insights into tangible business actions.@en

This chapter describes ‘Understanding Values’, a course that teaches
aspiring designers who aim to design for values to disentangle how different
notions of value and values influence the design process, the design outcome,
and how the outcome is evaluated. The course strives to make abstract values
more tangible by asking students to analyse the values supported or hindered
by an existing product-service system and how it brings or destroys value for
a broad range of direct and indirect stakeholders. Various theories, methods
and tools are brought forward to help them perform their analysis and come
up with a more acceptable alternative value proposition. Students are also
encouraged to conduct high-quality dialogues to reflect on their own values as
designers, the ethics of design and the value tensions they experience during
the course. These reflections in turn serve as input for the development of
their own code of ethics.@en

This doctoral thesis demonstrates that households are able and willing to permanently change their habits of using energy, if they are supported by well-designed, user-friendly technology. Previous studies have assessed the impact of smart energy technologies and new tariff structures to make optimal use of sustainable energy supply and the existing energy infrastructure. However, these studies did not investigate the desired behaviour change on such a large scale and/or over such a long time. Moreover, there has been little focus on developing user-friendly smart energy technologies. The findings from both quantitative and qualitative research demonstrate that only when people are able and willing to use smart energy technologies over time, these technologies can bring about a lasting change. Therefore, this thesis includes practical design guidelines for developing smart energy technologies that are intended to have a lasting effect on the way energy is used at home.@en

To efficiently facilitate the energy transition it is essential to evaluate the potential of demand response in practice. Based on the results of a Dutch smart grid pilot, this paper assesses the potential of both manual and semi-automated demand response in residential areas. To stimulate demand response, a dynamic tariff and smart appliances were used. The participating households were informed about the tariff day-ahead through a home energy management system, connected to a display installed on the wall in their living room. The tariff was intuitively displayed: self-consumption of photovoltaic generation was stimulated by means of a low tariff, but also the generation itself played a central role on the display. Household flexibility is analyzed, focusing on: (i) the load shift of (smart) appliances, and (ii) the response of the (overall) peak load towards the dynamic tariff. To assess the latter, i.e. price responsiveness, the participants were split up in two comparable groups which were subject to a different moment of evening peak-pricing. Based on the results, it is concluded that mainly the flexibility of the white goods (i.e. the washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher) is used for demand response. The main part of the flexible load of these (smart) appliances is shifted from the evening to the midday, to match local generation. This load shift remained stable over a long period of time (>1 year) and is not responsive to the exact moment of peak-pricing. Therefore, it is concluded that a simple and transparent design for dynamic tariffs is sufficient and most effective to stimulate (manual) residential demand response. Such a tariff should emphasize the ‘right’ moments to use electricity, intuitively linked to renewable generation.@en