My workshop was based on two questions: Whose knowledge is crucial when we design learning experiences or develop solutions to environmental conflicts? And what criteria do we use to select conceptual frameworks and reflection partners in learning or transformation processes?
“Human-centered design” is regarded by many as the state of the art. But what if the exclusive focus on human needs itself creates a blind spot in the design of our transformation processes—in terms of our capacity for empathy or innovation?
In the spirit of “more-than-human-centered design,” we therefore broadened our perspectives in the workshop and incorporated the viewpoints of other species that we might otherwise tend to overlook. What can we learn when we pause and observe how other species deal with ecological challenges? How does our view of the world change when we encounter them not as research subjects, but as our neighbors on this planet?
It was wonderful to reflect on these questions together with participants from research, practice, and politics from all over the world. We are united by a shared interest in working toward solutions for environmental conflicts that affect us all. A particularly memorable moment for me personally was the feedback from a participant who, when asked for his opinion on the experience, said: “This is a great way to foster empathy – even in engineers like me…”
Many thanks to the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), the Federal Foreign Office, and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for funding this workshop.

And my special thanks go to PD Dr. Thorsten Philipp for inviting me to participate in this awesome program.
The joint reflective dialogue at the public evening event for the program “Silenced Knowledge: Transdisciplinary
Learning through Marginalized Perspectives” at the research center “Der simulierte Mensch” was also very inspiring- a particularly beautiful place to reflect together.

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