I am a designer, educator, and researcher currently based close to Brussels.

I obtained an MFA Graphic Design from LUCA School of Arts Brussels (1998) and an MFA Design from the Sandberg Institute Amsterdam (2001) and a Ph.D. in Design from the HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design, University of Gothenburg (2020).

My practice addresses the intersection of design, art, politics, social engagement, and everyday life where I create supportive structures, dialogic spaces, and public narratives that aim to disrupt and open up normative perspectives and attitudes towards specific social groups in society whilst aiding the further development of democracy. In my projects, I often engage in ethnographic and participatory engagement with members of these groups, and in many cases, my design interventions occur in public space.

My main research interest lies in investigating the role of design in the further development of democracy, social inclusion, and sustainability. My research approach combines Research through Design and Design Anthropology and connects to political ambition, human rights, and sustainability. My Ph.D. thesis: Designing ‘for’ and ‘with’ ambiguity: actualising democratic processes in participatory design practices with children (at the HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design, University of Gothenburg; 2020) explains the Ambiguity-Approach I have developed for creating more free, equal, and just participatory design processes when children and adult designers collaborate on a common project. I was a 2014-2017 Research Fellow in the EU Marie Curie project TRADERS where I — as Office for Public Play — explored free play as a participatory design approach when working with children on their participation in public space issues.

I am currently teaching in MFA Child Culture Design and MFA Embedded Design at HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design, University of Gothenburg where I teach on, amongst other things, design methodologies and methodologies for collaboration (e.g., co-design, participatory design). From 1999-2014, I have taught at LUCA School of Arts Brussels: BA & MFA Graphic Design, MFA Information Design, and Transmedia (master-after-master).

For my full CV, please request by email: annelies (at) anneliesvaneycken.be