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There is an urgent need to engage with deep leverage points in sustainability transformations—fundamental myths, paradigms, and systems of meaning making—to open new collective horizons for action. Art and creative practice are uniquely suited to help facilitate change in these deeper transformational leverage points. However, understandings of how creative practices contribute to sustainability transformations are lacking in practice and fragmented across theory and research. This lack of understanding shapes how creative practices are evaluated and therefore funded and supported, limiting their potential for transformative impact. This paper presents the 9 Dimensions tool, created to support reflective and evaluative dialogues about links between creative practice and sustainability transformations. It was developed in a transdisciplinary process between the potential users of this tool: researchers, creative practitioners, policy makers, and funders. It also brings disciplinary perspectives on societal change from evaluation theory, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and more in connection with each other and with sustainability transformations, opening new possibilities for research. The framework consists of three categories of change, and nine dimensions: changing meanings (embodying, learning, and imagining); changing connections (caring, organizing, and inspiring); and changing power (co-creating, empowering, and subverting). We describe how the 9 Dimensions tool was developed, and describe each dimension and the structure of the tool. We report on an application of the 9 Dimensions tool to 20 creative practice projects across the European project Creative Practices for Transformational Futures (CreaTures). We discuss user reflections on the potential and challenges of the tool, and discuss insights gained from the analysis of the 20 projects. Finally, we discuss how the 9 Dimensions can effectively act as a transdisciplinary research agenda bringing creative practice further in contact with transformation research.

Design is low on theory of transformation, which becomes problematic as the practices and outputs of design need to contribute to a culture of planetary adaptation for sustainability. In fact, design itself needs to be (re)designed to enact culture change. To make these shifts, design research can learn from cultural theory that positions culture as evolving and performative. Adopting these ideas helps to reveal the designed-therefore-designable nature of the world, which is a necessary prelude to mobilizing publics. The paper concludes with participatory collaborative thought experiments, influenced by cultural theory, that offer directions for changing design.

En este artículo, cinco autores proponen replantear la conferencia como una serie de postales, cartas, reglas y momentos silenciosos para que las jerarquías tradicionales del conocimiento se puedan anular, o al menos, dejar de lado. Relatamos que el lugar de convocatoria se consideró un agente, así como los dramas y dispositivos que aplicamos para enfrentarnos a este. Utilizamos este método para poder cuestionar las prácticas convencionales de las reuniones enfocadas a objetivos y a los artículos con coautoría como formas de creación de contenidos académicos. Al encontrar un punto de encuentro donde se desorientaba la experiencia y su estatus quedaba desnudo, pudimos investigar la idea de coexistencia entre las realidades humanas y no humanas, como el paso necesario que la teoría social debe tomar para convertirse en un punto de conexión con el mundo social, en vez de escapar de él. Nuestra conclusión es que este silencio implícito y las ficciones necesarias son un medio para tener en cuenta el futuro y el pasado en el momento de encuentro.

This paper argues there is value in considering participatory design as a form of anthropology at a time when we recognise that we need not only to understand cultures but to change them towards sustainable living. Holding up the democratically-oriented practices of some participatory design research to definitions of anthropology allows the essay to explore the role of intervention in social process. And, challenging definitional boundaries, it examines design as a participatory tool for cultural change, creating and interrogating futures (and the idea of futures). In analysing how designing moves towards change in the world, the paper brings together design research and anthropological concepts to help us better understand and operationalise our interventions and pursue them in a fair and sustainable manner.

This paper explores the story behind a crowdfunding service as an example of sharing technology. Research in a small neighborhood of London showed how locally-developed initiatives can differ in tone, scale, ambition and practice to those getting attention in the so-called sharing economy. In local accounts, we see an emphasis on organizing together to create shared spaces for collaborative use of resources and joint ownership of projects and places. Whereas, many global business models feature significant elements of renting, leasing and hiring and focus only on resource management, sometimes at the expense of community growth. The service we discuss is based in the area we studied and has a collective model of sharing, but hopes to be part of the new global movement. We use this hybridity to problematize issues of culture, place and scalability in developing sharing resources and addressing sustainability concerns. We relate this to the motivation, rhetoric and design choices of other local sharing enterprises and other global sharing economy initiatives, arguing, in conclusion, that there is no sharing economy, but a variety of new cultures being fostered.

RESUMO Em outubro de 2915, organizamos uma oficina para 80 pesquisadores e praticantes envolvidos em makerspaces na Europa. Nosso objetivo era explorar como os makerspaces podem fomentar desenvolvimento sustentável. Este artigo relata a discussão na oficina e idéias sobre este tópico, ilustrando o interesse no potencial deliberativo deste tipo de "laboratório cidadão". Interessante notar que, dada a ênfase nas práticas e ferramentas de muitos espaços maker, a discussão no nosso evento concentrou-se muito mais nas capacidades e habilidades de desenvolvimento comunitário na mobilização de alianças para conscientização social. A discussão problematizou dversos tipos de sustentabilidade, observando que ambições sociais e econômicas podem se alinhar com objetivos ambientais neste nível de atividade, mas nem sempre são desenhados para tal. No fundo, a oficina revelou a necessidade de estratégias contrárias às estruturas sociais vigentes que influenciam espaços maker ostensivamente "abertos", e portanto capacitam as ferramentas e capacidades disponíveis para desenvolvimentos mais sustentáveis. Palavras-chave: Desenvovimento Sustentável; Desenvolvimento Comunitário; Makerspaces; Conscientização Social. ABSTRACT In October 2015, we convened a workshop for 80 researchers and practitioners involved in makerspaces in Europe. Our aim was to explore how makerspaces can help cultivate sustainable developments. This paper reports workshop discussion and ideas on the topic, and illustrates interest in the deliberative potential for this kind of ‘citizen lab’. Interestingly, given the emphasis on tools and making practices in many makerspaces, discussion at our makerspace event focused much more on community development capabilities and skills for mobilising alliances for raising social awareness. Discussion problematized different kinds of sustainability, noting that social and economic ambitions can potentially align well with environmental goals at this level of activity, but are not always designed to do so. At heart, the workshop revealed the need for strategies that counter the incumbent social structures that influence ostensibly ‘open’ makerspaces, and thereby enable the tools and capacities available to work on more sustainable developments. Keywords: Sustainable Development; Makerspaces; Community Development; Social Awareness.