Collaboration with Design Driven Innovation students on the key role of civil servants in a transition project: sustainable drinking water supply on Schiermonnikoog
Students from NHL Stenden have conducted research within the Interreg North Sea project into the “Rudder” model developed within the FREIIA project. The project builds on the tipping guide developed in Islands of Innovation (Interreg Europe). This Guide consists of two engines: the TIPPING mechanism and the “Rudder method”. These engines will be (further) developed in a bottom-up participatory approach in which community involvement is central and young entrepreneurs, students and tourists will enrich the process. As part of the rudder approach, the sustainable drinking water supply on the island of Schiermonnikoog was examined.
Schiermonnikoog faces the challenge of realizing a sustainable drinking water supply on the island. In collaboration with officials from the municipality of Schiermonnikoog and the province of Fryslân, students from the Design Driven Innovation master's program (University of Applied Sciences NHL Stenden, Leeuwarden) have developed prototypes to help prepare and facilitate this complex and multidisciplinary challenge. The starting point was the already developed RUDDER model and how civil servants can support this transition. The developed prototypes help make the RUDDER model more accessible so that civil servants can effectively enter and fulfill their RUDDER role(s).
Various designs have been made: a reflection method, a conversation piece, a serious game and a meeting design for meetings. With these designs, the students have helped the client translate their role model into practical tools that can be further developed for use in different contexts in the North Sea region. By working on this case, the students have also gained important practical experience in working on a complex transition issue. They have been challenged to find opportunities to facilitate collaboration around a transition project. An important experience for the future!