In her doctoral dissertation, Caoimhe Isha Beaulé, M.Sc.A. in Environmental Design, explores how relationships and trust can support ethical and meaningful ways of collaborating with communities. Drawing on projects carried out primarily in northern and Arctic contexts, Beaulé examines how designers can work with communities, particularly Indigenous Peoples, by recognising relationships as the heart of the design process rather than its background.

Beaulé’s doctoral dissertation advances understanding of how designers can collaborate ethically and meaningfully with communities by exploring the dynamic of trust as a guiding strategy in design practice.

“Design is not only about shaping products, services, or systems, but also about shaping how people live and work together, driven by a common purpose,” Beaulé says.

Her research shows that trust and collaboration, too, can be designed.

“When designers approach projects as relationships through a common vision, rather than problems to solve with a product or a service, collaboration becomes transformative at individual and collective levels,” Beaulé explains.

The keys of trust and socially responsible design

The study underscores the importance of the designer’s positionality. In co-design projects, designers can adopt roles of both the supporter and the supportee.

“Knowing where we stand helps to build trust through transparency, and to know how and when to act in projects set in sensitive contexts,” Beaulé notes, emphasising that “Contexts do matters. Centring local knowledge systems, for instance Indigenous relational perspectives, supports ethical decisions.”

Her findings also show that attitudes and emotional experiences are central to collaboration and should be recognised as key to sustaining ethical practice.

“When designers co-develop goals and governance, groundwork in local contexts, and use soft skills such as listening, empathy, and conflict navigation, trust grows, and so do the chances of creative, relevant, and durable outcomes,” Beaulé states.

Shifting from object-centred to relationship-centred design

Beaulé’s research develops collective design practice (CDP) with communities, an approach that emphasises dynamic and fluid ways of being and creating together. Guided by a practice-led approach, the study draws from two international collaborative projects. Experiential insights from project collaborators anchored the research in lived realities, ensuring that theoretical reflections remained connected to practice.

Weaving a systemic and complexity lens with Indigenous relational worldviews, she proposes a dynamic and relational model of CDP. This form of design practice highlights how trust evolves on multiple levels: with oneself, with others, and as a shared atmosphere. Designers can support such a dynamic by having a fluid and strategic role and acting on many fronts.

“The systemic lens revealed how trust and relationships evolve through multiple interconnected dimensions and environments, for instance the project or the construction of knowledge. The design process becomes a means of fostering positive change within and beyond these dimensions,” Beaulé says.

By shifting from an object-centred to a multi-level understanding of design based on relationships, Beaulé’s research reframes socially responsible design as a practice where cultivating trust through design is fundamental, offering new insights for design research, education, and practice.

Information on the public defence

The academic dissertation (Co-)Design through trust: A Dynamic and Relational Approach to Collective Design Practice by Caoimhe Isha Beaulé, M.Sc.A. (Environmental design), will be publicly examined in the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland on Friday 14 November 2025 starting at 1:00 pm (UTC +2) in Esko and Asko Hall (F1011, the main building of the University of Lapland, address: Yliopistonkatu 8, Rovaniemi, Finland).

The opponent is Professor Carla Martins Cipolla, Ph.D., from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the custos is Professor Satu Miettinen, DA, from the University of Lapland, Finland.

The language of the event is English.

The public defence can be followed online via livestream in Zoom.

Information on the doctoral candidate

Caoimhe Isha Beaulé is an Irish-Canadian multidisciplinary designer, researcher, and educator. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Design and Sustainability Studies from Concordia University (Canada) and a Master of Applied Science (M.Sc.A.) in Environmental Design from the School of Design at Université de Montréal.

Beaulé is currently a Lecturer at the Université de Montréal’s School of Design. For over a decade, Beaulé’s work has examined the role of design in shaping sustainable and equitable futures, informed by experience of living and working in circumnorthern and Arctic contexts.

She was awarded a doctoral research scholarship (2019–2022) by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et Culture (FRQSC), the EDUFI Fellowship (2019) from the Finnish National Agency for Education, and the University of Lapland’s Esko Riepula Grant (2024).

Further information

Caoimhe Isha Beaulé
caoimhe.isha.beaule (at) umontreal.ca

Information on the publication

Beaulé, Caoimhe Isha (2025): (Co-)Design Through Trust: A Dynamic and Relational Approach to Collective Design Practice with Communities. Acta electronica Universitatis Lapponiensis 420. University of Lapland, Rovaniemi. ISBN 978-952-337-516-1, ISSN 1796-6310.

Permanent address of the electronic publication: https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-337-516-1