Embodied Ecosystem Mapping and Voicing

At the Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab Amsterdam we wanted to incorporate systems thinking and systemic design into our learning journey. Not only toward our students, but also for us as a lab team to be able to work more from such an approach and awareness. As a lab, we want to give space to (rather) new methods and hold space to collective learning and experimenting.

In addition to that, this is part of Roos Gerritsma’ s PD trajectory (Update meerjarig ontwerptraject binnen het ULT-lab Amsterdam Noord – Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab Amsterdam), as systemic design is very much related to regenerative design.

During Spring 2026 we were able to discuss this wish with trainer Senka Rebac, who was not only open in hosting the workshop, but also in training us to be ready to carry it out ourselves during the next semesters. During the preparation we discussed various possibilities and shared the Challenge of the lab minor with Senka. Furthermore, we needed to come up with:

– A first list of actors of the ULT lab ecosystem, apart from obvious actors such as residents, entrepreneurs, students, it also including actors such as: Nature, Politics, Future(s) and an option Other.

– A ball of string (incidentally we got a type of string that was strong, but not too strong as it broke during the first session. Metaphorically speaking we thereby demonstrated an act of too much tension on the system: it breaks down all ties.)

– Empty the floor and put all tables and chairs to the side.

– For the atomic writing part – by which we mean: writing real short stories that are based on various talks our students had with local actors – Senka prepared wonderful prompts that could be chosen from, see photo below with all the questions.

(Photo) Prompts for writing atomic stories (ultra short stories that voice local community wishes or feelings)

On Wednesday 15^th of April, Senka Rebac guided us through the session. All participants were asked to look at the ecosystem actors on the floor and were invited to change the order if needed (and, according to multiple students, the ecosystem needed to be represented slightly differently). Then they were asked to stand on actors they felt most related to. Senka walked us through the new setting and sometimes asked to give a short explanation.

The atomic writing, was followed by reading out loud their compelling stories, also from various actors of the ecosystem. Followed by putting the string around their wrists and throwing the ball to the next ones. In the end, all were tied and connected together!

Senka and Roos were taking up the role and voice of Nature and the Municipality. As one of the students was sharing a story from the residents perspective that they miss a certain bus that was taken out of service. The Municipality could then pull the string by saying it simply had to take out that bus service based on economic reasons. Tensions were felt as well when various actors started to pull or push the string. A real embodied experience of the system!

Many thanks again to Senka Rebac.