Sustainability challenges present themselves in myriad and tangled forms. There is a growing consensus that adequately addressing these challenges requires new forms of knowledge production and decision-making; a matter with which transdisciplinary research (TR) occupies itself (Lang et al, 2012). TR addresses questions regarding the current state of affairs, and questions concerning the development of pragmatic means in order to transform existing conditions (Pohl & Hadorn, 2007).

Central to the TR approach is the involvement of non-academic stakeholders in order to integrate knowledge, reconcile values and preferences, and create ownership for solutions (Lang et al, 2012). Within TR, transformational knowledge deals with the technical, social, cultural, legal and other possible means of acting to transform existing practices and introduce desired ones (Pohl & Hadorn, 2007). In this sense, it is closely tied up with policymaking.

New forms of knowledge production allow for new methods for policymaking. The staged intervention, as detailed on this website, can be seen as a form of theatre. Theater can “[...] be a means of transforming society. Theatre can help us build our future, rather than just waiting for it” (Augusto Boal 1992 from Heras & Tàbara, 2014).

Overall, by fostering critical reflection and public deliberation, RijnsWeirdo interventions can open up political spaces to stakeholders which might otherwise be overlooked, and to involve them in the process of developing alternate visions of the future (Heras & Tabara, 2014). 

Lang, D. J., Wiek, A., Bergmann, M., Stauffacher, M., Martens, P., Moll, P., ... & Thomas, C. J. (2012). Transdisciplinary research in sustainability science: practice, principles, and challenges. Sustainability science, 7(1), 25-43

Pohl, C., & Hadorn, G.H. (2007). Principles for designing transdisciplinary research. Munich: Oekom

Heras, M., & Tàbara, J.D. (2014). Let’s play transformations! Performative methods for sustainability. Sustainability science, 9(3), 379-398 

Utrecht is growing quickly. In the coming decades the workforce is expected to grow by 30%, jobs are set to increase by the same amount, and Utrecht will house over 400.000 inhabitants by 2040. These developments are being guided and steered from a national to a regional level.

In these policy documents Rijnsweerd-Noord is framed in light of the planned expansion of the Utrecht Science Park (USP), making it the 3rd economic hotspot of Utrecht, with more than 31k jobs, 50k students and 70k visitors daily. The main aims are to use the area to connect the USP with the city center, to make it an attractive location for startups, scale-ups and grownups, and to make an attractive meeting place close to the city center. While a lot of the goals refer to ‘attractiveness’, it is never made explicit what this term entails, or how it can constructed, measured, tested, implemented.

Rijnsweerd-Noord can be split up in 5 ‘pockets’. These are determined by their function and users, including the residential area, community gardens, student complex, nature reserve and offices. As we explored the neighbourhood, we found that in many pockets people felt out of place. They would rather not be where they were, and wanted to be elsewhere. The conditions within which this neighbourhood currently exists, have been guided, created, by policy in the past. It has resulted in an underutilized, mono-functional, unattractive area, in which people don’t feel human. This may sound sad, but it also means that policy in the future can help alleviate these conditions, and allow this area, and similar areas throughout the country, to prosper.