Department of Design

NODUS – Sustainable Design Research Group

Sustainability challenges require a restructuring of institutions and organizations in the local, regional and global scale. The NODUS group studies design solutions, business models, bottom up initiatives and governance innovations which hold potential to contribute to sustainability. NODUS utilises and promotes transdisciplinary research and co-creative approaches in knowledge generation. Socio-ecological-technological system transformations, sustainability science, practice theory, self-organizing systems, participatory and collaborative design, and futures studies are the central concepts for the group.

NODUS researchers focus on a diversity of empirical contexts including self-organised communities, urban, business, provisional systems such as energy, water, food and transport, and collaborate with a variety of stakeholders such as businesses, non-governmental organisations, policy makers, activists, and local and international academics from other research groups and organisations.

NODUS research group supports sustainability education through the interdisciplinary Creative Sustainability Masters’ programme at Aalto University.

The NODUS research group holds regular NODUSTalks at the Helsinki Design Museum. These bring together researchers and practitioners on topics relevant to design and sustainability with the aim of contributing to public debate on how human societies can mitigate further environmental and societal damage and adapt to the already locked-in impacts of the damage that has been caused. Transformation, resilience and justice are the underlying three foundation stones for the discussions facilitated during these talks. You can keep up to date with NODUSTalks program by following our Facebook and LinkedIn pages.

We are also on X (formerly Twitter): @NODUS_Aalto