The REWORLDING Doctoral Network addresses the growing societal need for inclusive and participatory responses to socio-ecological challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. These issues are experienced differently by communities, organisations, and individuals, often leading to societal polarisation that slows down collective action.
REWORLDING develops and advances Participatory Design (PD) methodologies that enable dialogue and collaboration across societal groups and between human and more-than-human actors (e.g. plants, rivers, ecosystems). By amplifying underrepresented voices and creating participatory spaces for engagement, the project seeks to bridge fragmented perspectives and support more inclusive socio-environmental transformations.
The project is structured around four interconnected pillars: Retracing, Reconnecting, Reimagining, and Reinstitutioning. Through these pathways, REWORLDING identifies existing practices of socio-environmental care, develops knowledge for interdisciplinary collaboration, links participatory design approaches to real-world contexts (e.g. energy transitions, farming, social housing), and explores ways to embed research outcomes in long-term institutional practices.
Situated within the broader context of the European Green Deal, Horizon Europe missions, and Open Science principles, REWORLDING contributes to the development of socially robust, democratic, and ethically grounded responses to ecological challenges. Social sciences and humanities perspectives are central to the project, enabling critical reflection on values, power relations, and cultural interpretations shaping environmental issues.
Overall, REWORLDING aims to develop participatory tools, methods, and training that support collaboration across societal divides and contribute to more resilient and inclusive socio-ecological transitions.
