Building Rapport and Inclusiveness

In our network, we encourage everyone to bring forward topics they find important for discussion. Recently, three studios from India, the Netherlands, and Mexico collaborated to invite us to reflect on the decolonization of design. This conversation is particularly relevant to our practice as design researchers.

About practices in enabling new connections with people beyond the ecosystem of your work and identity.

In June 2025, seven studios from the Reach Network contributed stories and reflections on the engagements they have had with system transformations. Our journey into system transformation revealed a fundamental truth: it’s about looking beyond isolated problems to understand interconnected challenges. For those designing solutions, this means shifting from fixing individual parts to engage with the system as a whole. For everyone, it’s about asking: What are the hidden connections, and how do changes ripple through the whole? Working systemically demands a particular way of thinking. It's about embracing curiosity, humility, and a willingness to collaborate across diverse perspectives. We observed the value of going broad in our understanding before diving deeper into specific areas. One helpful analogy that emerged was that of a gardener, nurturing growth and working with natural systems rather than simply trying to fix broken elements.