Multiplicity Through the Multi-Level Perspective in Design for Transitions

This short paper acts as a provocation for the role of the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) in Design for Transitions. It explores Design for Transitions as a practice of assemblage, where multiplicity (a key enabler of this complexity-led approach) is realised through a kind of ‘stickiness’ that the MLP provides. The paper presents a number of ways that multiplicity is engaged, with particular attention paid to the role of knowledge through theoretical multiplicity. This focus aims to demonstrate the wide range of theoretical knowledge that is frequently applied through, within, or around the MLP in order to make sense of systems-oriented design. The paper briefly attends to the way this multiplicity compounds in actions, where knowledge is applied through multiple levels, stages, contexts, actors, scales, actions and outcomes. This initial provocation serves to seed an idea that is being nurtured and expanded through continuing research.