About

Structure and Narrative is the professional practice of Sjef van Gaalen. I work as an independent researcher, designer and writer in digital culture and strategic foresight.

There are two interests I’ve had my entire life; finding out how things work and stories about the future. These have come together over time in a generalized skill for absorbing large amounts of information, finding ways to organize it, and telling stories woven from the emergent patterns. Structure and Narrative.

The outputs of this process have included identity design, scenario research reporting, software evaluations, participatory futures research, workshop designs, performance scripts, grant proposals, speculative artefacts, short fiction and more. A lot of documents, slide decks and collaborative workspace boards. Sometimes collages.

Most of my work is at some intersection of technology, ecology and society (what isn’t), where I have particular interests in systemic, regenerative, situated, participatory and embodied design issues, digital rights, cooperative movement building and trees.

I am currently a member of the board at Zoöp CCU, where I advise on strategic direction and fundraising. Creative Coding Utrecht (CCU) is a platform for digital culture as practice, with a multi-year artistic research program focused on eco-techno-feminism, permacomputing and regenerative design, embracing post-digital aesthetics. I’m also the product owner of their Creative Coding Instrumentarium.

I’m an associate senior researcher with School of International Futures (SOIF)—a global non-profit working on equitable and sustainable futures for current and next generations—for whom I’ve worked as a writer and researcher on horizon scanning, domains analysis and scenarios projects in the space and health sectors.

In 2018-19 I was heavily involved in the series of workshops and conversations that brought about the creation of the Zoöp, a new organisational form in which human and other-than-human life work together to foster a practice of ecological regeneration, making the interests of nonhuman life part of organisational decision making.

I also occasionally assist organisations seeking to balance ethical and practical concerns in strategic decision making with regard to software vendor selection, such as Democracy and Media Foundation and Limelight Foundation.

Having previously worked in various roles as a web designer/developer and/or design technologist for the better part of two decades, I still help out with the maintenance of web presences for The Institute for Information Law, The Chinati Foundation and The Embassy of the North Sea.

I will forever be wildly behind on documenting my projects on this website.