Joanna Boehnert and Nick Bell
Transition Templates: Pathways to Net Zero+ (TTPNZ+) uses systems-level forms of design to envision dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in five sectors of the UK economy. TTPNZ+ is a three-year AHRC-funded research project developing processes for collaborative work on decarbonisation. The project offers a holistic approach using visual tools to help organisations map and enact energy transitions. At the start of the third year, I commissioned graphic designer Nick Bell to create a poster that communicates the main themes of the project (net zero+ and regenerative design) along with the research objectives, approach, results, and conclusions so far.
Visually, strategies included a sense of movement. We aimed to link the net zero agenda with wider sustainability and regenerative design agendas by popularising the concept of net zero+. Here, the plus (+) refers to regenerative systems beyond the narrow specificity of carbon reduction alone, to additionally address wider ecological emergencies. TTPNZ+ uses systemic and transition design approaches to envision and expand the scope of analysis and responsive actions towards regenerative alternatives. Each sector (home energy, AI and digital, food and agriculture, fashion and textiles, and higher education) is approached as a designed and constructed ecosystem that organises everyday life, while also existing as a set of socio-technical systems that intersect and are dependent on ecological systems across scales.
KEYWORDS: decarbonisation, net zero, mapping, futures, climate, energy transitions
