Norwich Uni appoints a Director of the new Research Institute for Sustainable Worlds

Dan will join us from Utrecht, the Netherlands where he is currently Associate Professor of Imagination and Climate Futures at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). Dan also directs the Imaginaries Lab, an independent research-through-design studio originally established in 2017 as part of Carnegie Mellon University. Dan’s work centers on tools and methods for participatory (re-)imagining: helping people, together, create and explore possible futures, imagine new ways to live, and understand ourselves and the world around us better, in an age of crises in climate, health, and social inequalities. Furthermore, Dan has been a fellow of the Centre for Unusual Collaborations at Utrecht University and a director and member of the Executive Board of the Design Research Society, one of the leading international organisations for design research. Dan holds a PhD in Design from Brunel University, London, a Master’s in Technology Policy from the University of Cambridge (one of a set of experimental programmes developed by the former Cambridge-MIT Institute), and a BSc in Industrial Design Engineering, also from Brunel. The appointment panel were impressed by Dan’s expansive vision for the work of the Institute and his commitment to harnessing the power of design, creative practice and methods for equitable outcomes. We very much look forward to Dan joining our community.