Mathilda Tham
Mathilda’s work sits in a positive, creative and activist space between design, futures studies and sustainability.
Staff details
Dr Mathilda Tham’s work sits in a positive, creative and activist space between design, futures studies and sustainability. Originally a fashion designer, today Mathilda’s work is concerned with the design of futures scenarios for new ways of engaging with fashion, the design of processes of change and shared learning experiences, and the design of new research methods. Mathilda’s work is informed by the notion of metadesign: a higher order of design, the design of design itself, an emergent and open-ended design process that transcends disciplines. Mathilda’s work is also inspired by action research, an important dimension of which is that research can be transformative as well as informative. Yet a key facet of Mathilda’s work is the role of envisioning and the question “how do we want to live our lives?” in design and futures studies. New research interests include peace, gender and diversity.
Mathilda Tham is a PhD supervisor.
Mathilda Tham is Professor in Design at Linnaeus University, Sweden. She is a member of the board of Mistra, the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research, Sweden. Mathilda’s latest publications: Routledge Handbook for Sustainability and Fashion, co-edited with Kate Fletcher, is now out.
Publications and research outputs
Conference or Workshop Item
- The Lucky People Forecast approach – How can education support engagement with systemic sustainable fashion futures? Tham, Mathilda. 2010. 'The Lucky People Forecast approach – How can education support engagement with systemic sustainable fashion futures?'. In: Fashioning an Ethical Industry. London.
- Metadesign Tools: Designing the seeds for shared processes of change Tham, Mathilda and Jones, Hannah. 2008. 'Metadesign Tools: Designing the seeds for shared processes of change'. In: Changing the Change: Design, Visions, Proposals and Tools. Proceedings. Turin, Italy 10th - 12th July 2008.
Book Section
- Creative resilience thinking in fashion and textiles Tham, Mathilda. 2015. Creative resilience thinking in fashion and textiles. In: Janis K. Jefferies; Diana Wood Conroy and Hazel Clark, eds. The Handbook of Textile Culture. London/New Delhi/New York/Sydney: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780857857750
- Futures of futures studies in fashion Tham, Mathilda. 2015. Futures of futures studies in fashion. In: Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham, eds. Routledge Handbook of Sustainability and Fashion. Abingdom, Oxon/New York: Routledge, pp. 283-292. ISBN 978-0-415-82859-8
- A sustainability manifesto for Ann-Sofie Back Tham, Mathilda. 2014. A sustainability manifesto for Ann-Sofie Back. In: Röhsska Museet, ed. Ann-Sofie Back: Torsten och Wanja Söderbergs pris 2014. (21) Göteborg: Röhsska Museet, pp. 66-78. ISBN 9789187039072
Edited Book
- Routledge Handbook of Sustainability and Fashion Fletcher, Kate and Tham, Mathilda, eds. 2015. Routledge Handbook of Sustainability and Fashion. Abingdom, Oxon/New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-82859-8
Thesis
- Lucky People Forecast: A systemic futures perspective on fashion and sustainability Tham, Mathilda. 2008. Lucky People Forecast: A systemic futures perspective on fashion and sustainability. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London