Design for Collectives: Rethinking design for collective being

In this guest episode of Design for Collectives , host Anna Chatzimichali, Associate Professor of Engineering Design at the University of Bath, is joined by Matt Ford, industrial designer at Designability, a UK charity developing life-changing products for disabled children and adults. Designability’s work spans everything from adapted pushchairs for disabled parents to powered wheelchairs for chi...

In this guest episode of Design for Collectives , host Sonja Oliveira, Associate Dean and Professor in Architecture and Sustainability Design Innovation at the University of Strathclyde, is joined by Kathy Peach, Director of the Centre for Collective Intelligence Design at Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency focused on delivering social change. Kathy’s work explores how collective intelligence, comb...

In this guest episode of Design for Collectives , host Sonja Oliveira, Associate Dean and Professor in Architecture and Sustainability Design Innovation at the University of Strathclyde, is joined by Roberto Cavallo, Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture & the Built Environment at Delft University of Technology, and President of the European Assoc...

In this mini episode of Design for Collectives , Sonja Oliveira, Associate Dean and Professor in Architecture and Sustainability Design Innovation at the University of Strathclyde, brings the series together to explore why people and relationships are the real drivers of energy flexibility. Reflecting on the journey so far, this episode revisits the core ideas behind flexible energy use, the contr...

In this mini episode of Design for Collectives , Sonja Oliveira, Associate Dean and Professor in Architecture and Sustainability Design Innovation at the University of Strathclyde, explores why energy use is shaped as much by social identity as by technology. While energy policy often focuses on smart devices, efficiency, and cost, this episode looks at the social forces behind everyday decisions....

In this mini episode of Design for Collectives , Anna Chatzimichali, Associate Professor of Engineering Design at the University of Bath, challenges one of the energy sector’s most persistent assumptions that consumers are passive, uninformed, and need incentives to change. As smart meters, electrification, and flexibility programmes reshape how households interact with the grid, most policies sti...

In this mini episode of Design for Collectives , Anna Chatzimichali, Associate Professor of Engineering Design at the University of Bath, explores the difference between reactive and proactive energy managers — and why this distinction matters for the low-carbon transition. Building on the previous episode, Anna introduces these two energy personas in depth. Proactive energy managers actively adap...

In this mini episode of Design for Collectives , Sonja Oliveira, Associate Dean and Professor in Architecture and Sustainability Design Innovation at the University of Strathclyde, explains what energy flexibility is and why it matters for a post-carbon future. As renewable energy grows, balancing supply and demand becomes more complex and simply upgrading technology won’t be enough. Through a sim...