Appendix 2.0 Literature Review

Presence

(Nevejan, 2015)

Team member

Concept interpretation

Lesson(s) learned

Graciela

People have presence when they actively pursue their well-being in their own lives. Nowadays, presence happens not only in “real” life but also in virtual realities.

Some inhabitants in the island also have presence for Texel’s sustainability transition; however, it may also be the case that outsiders have presence in the process as well. In that sense, physical and virtual realities come together.

Katja

Trying to be or become and stay happy. Used to be related to the physical reality (being here). However, during the last 20 years the concept of presence has made a shift towards virtual reality (being there) and the merging of these realities.

For Texel this means that we should take into account that, in the future, the notion of presence might change even more towards a virtual- and merging- than a physical reality.

Marlien

The natural tendency of human kind to move towards personal well-being, depending on time and space.

Presence on the island of Texel is changing and will change much more in the future 50 years. The designed sub-system should respond to this development, probably by respecting an emerging virtual reality.

Rafael

The pursuit or strive for well-being, our natural reactions in order to be or stay happy; this is applicable both to the tangible and virtual realities.

In Texel, we can understand presence for the inhabitants as being mostly physical now. However, in the future the situation might change, with the growth of virtual interactions their presence, and reactions might be more and more affected by external factors.

Presence design

(Nevejan, 2015)

Team member

Concept interpretation

Lesson(s) learned

Graciela

Sustainability transitions require changes of regimes, as explained last week. One way of achieving those changes is to shape the presence that people, as individuals and collectives, want to have in the process. Design for presence is to manage the way we pursue our well-being in a broad sense.

While designing a Permanently Innovate sub-system, we are not designing for a project, we are designing for presence. We want Texel to continously use innovation for its own well-being and survival.

Katja

The complexity that comes with the changing relation between physical and virtual reality and the merging of these realities makes understanding the value of presence very important, especially in order to design (participatory) systems.

For Texel this means that a new and different view on how to design a (sub-)system in which people are participating might be needed.

Marlien

Designing for presence means designing a new social dynamic system which fits with the new type of presence which will always be in development. Both on- and offline reality must fit in well.

To design for constant innovation, the future sub-system must allow constant change inspired by on- and offline input from participants. Time and space should be aligned to the extent that communication can be facilitated.

Rafael

Presence design means to design a system in which well-being is understood according to the objective of the designer. This can be an important factor as the actors presence changes towards the new established scenario.

In Texel, this can be applied in the choice of the initiatives we expect to take. It is necessary that our proposals do not interfere in the perceived well-being of people, otherwise they might oppose to participate in them. Instead we should propose an alternative well-being scenario or an improvement of the current situation.

Pro-environmental behaviour

(Venhoeven, 2013)

Team member

Concept interpretation

Lesson(s) learned

Graciela

To act (and many times change behaviour) in a way that minimizes the use of natural resources and our impact on the natural environment. More broadly, to live up to the challenge of sustainable development.

To achieve a sustainable transition and a permanently innovate transformation in Texel, we need to think about ways to promote pro-environmental behaviour.

Katja

(Actively) participating in bringing a better quality of life for people on preferably both, but especially the latter; the short- and long term. Can only be called sustainable if it does not threaten human well-being. Often perceived as difficult and not something one would do out of self-interest.

It is important to keep in mind that, next to technological and policy developments, we should involve changing the behavioural patterns of individuals in order to create an effective transition to a sustainable society. For Texel this means thinking of a system in which people would be involved to create a better quality of life without threatening the needs of future generations.

Marlien

Alternative behaviour of individuals (as compared to the current average behaviour) which does not threaten the environment while keeping the living standard equal

When Texelaars become aware of the environmental status, dangers and potential of Texel, pro-environmental behaviour can start to arise. Remark that people will never reduce their personal level of comfort and prosperity to benefit the environment!

Rafael

Actions or set of continuous actions (behaviour) aimed on minimizing the impact on the environment, or not impacting the environment at all.

Our proposal should stimulate Texelaars to behave in a pro-environmental way. To do so, it is important to raise awareness of the environmental problems, but also to provide them ways to understand in a shorter term that their actions are producing results.

Well-being

(Venhoeven, 2013)

Team member

Concept interpretation

Lesson(s) learned

Graciela

The concept refers to personal (and perhaps collective) happiness. Hedonic motivation involves the pursue of pleasure; eudaimonic motivation refers to the pursue of values in which we believe.

Design for presence and transformation in Texel requires a balance of hedonic and eudaimonic motivation. Those concepts are however not in conflict. For instance, if we turn the sustainability transition into something enjoyable, people will be involved for hedonic reasons in a journey that is also adding to their eudamonic aspirations.

Katja

Is about ‘becoming happy’, however, different perspectives on becoming happy exist. The hedonic well-being is about experiencing as much pleasure or happy moments as possible. The eudaimonic well-being is described as a deeper sense of well-being in which a person is doing things deliberately for the ‘right’ reasons.

I think for Texel to change towards a self-sufficient island with permanent innovation, we should, especially at first, need to address the hedonic well-being. People are more willing to participate in a system which they personally can benefit from.

Marlien

Well-being is a state of existence characterized by happiness, health and prosperity. The goal of life is either to experience a much pleasure as possible, or to pursue a passion and contribute to the whole

Two types of people exist: hedonic and eudaimonic people. Both groups should be challenged and invited to contribute to a self-sustaining Texel. Hence, we should explicitly design for personal gain and personal interest, as well as allowing passionate Texelaars to improve their surroundings.

Rafael

Well-being is presented as becoming happy, or also pursuit for happiness. This can be achieved in a hedonic or eudaimonic way; being the first the pursuit of experiences that lead to good feelings, and the second the choice of acting virtuously, following the “correct” principles.

For the Texel scenario it is important to provide solutions that can attend to both - hedonic and eudaimonic - points of view. As dealing with a multitude of actors we should try to propose a scenario that involves both of these factors together, attending to the demands of actors who prioritize any of them.