How can the impact of design be made tangible when it defies traditional metrics? This question is the focus of the article by Martina Fineder (University of Wuppertal), Carolin Baedeker (Wuppertal Institute), Felix Fastenrath (University of Wuppertal), Katja Kremser (University of Wuppertal), and Christa Liedtke (Wuppertal Institute and University of Wuppertal) as part of the collaborative project transform.NRW. The text has been published in the conference proceedings \u201cWhat could possibly go wrong?\u201d for the DGTF Annual Conference 2024 at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, edited by Merle Ibach, Andrea Augsten, and Axel Vogelsang. <\/p>\n\n
At the heart of this paper is an attempt to make the transformative power of design, art, and culture tangible. Politics and business tend to focus on impacts that can be expressed in measurable terms. For design, art, and culture, this presents a dilemma: Their social relevance often becomes apparent precisely where traditional indicators of success fall short. This paper addresses this tension and explores how the potential impact of design, art, and culture can nevertheless be made comprehensible without forcing them into a purely economic framework of evaluation. <\/p>\n\n
The underlying assumption is that design projects possess the transformative capacity to highlight existing structures\u2014such as living and production conditions\u2014and to transform them into new, sustainable conditions and patterns. Specifically, the focus is on the process-oriented examination of \u201cgood practice\u201d examples with regard to their potential impact. The \u201cGood Practice Breakfasts\u201d format was developed specifically for this part of the collective and interdisciplinary curation process. A combination of Theories of Change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) serves as a heuristic framework for classifying the examples. <\/p>\n\n
Using two examples, this article demonstrates that the interplay between method and format opens up a significant space for discourse in which both the dialogic production of knowledge and meaning and collaborative learning are fostered. The ongoing documentation, as a narrative history and repository of knowledge, is intended to contribute in the long term to the development of a shared foundation for transformation and sustainability literacy. <\/p>\n\n