Dr. Emīlija Veselova is an expert in the emerging area of designing with nature that strives to address the sustainability crisis by including natural nonhuman entities­­, such as organisms, species, and ecosystems, as stakeholders in design processes. It is also referred to as more-than-human, multispecies, planet-centric design.

In her doctoral research, Emīlija coined the designing with nature for sustainability approach by building integrative, transdisciplinary links between design research and practice, sustainability science, socio-ecological systems, systems thinking, ecology, and environmental ethics. Additionally, her research pioneered a novel systemic approach and typology for identifying natural nonhuman stakeholders and critically investigating the identification of natural nonhuman needs. 

Dr. Emīlija Veselova holds a Doctor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree in design. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher in multispecies design for sustainability at the Department of Design, Aalto University. 

  • Podcast episode "Multispecies Ethnography in Design Research and Practice"

    AI-generated podcast based on a book chapter.

  • Nature has to be more present in our design decisions

    Aalto Summer School Teacher Interview

  • Podcast episode “Designing with Nature: expanding participatory design beyond humans”

    Planetary Planning Podcast
    June 2024

  • Aalto news post: "We should consider nature as stakeholder in design process!

    Aalto ARTS “I Claim…” series
    July 2023

  • Talk: “Designing for Multispecies Sustainability”

    NODUS Talks
    September 2021