Books that inspire, provoke, and empower a new generation of futures‑makers.
At the UTS Transdisciplinary School (TDS), we believe tomorrow is built by the people who dare to think differently today.
Our work brings together diverse perspectives — across disciplines, industries, cultures and lived experiences — to tackle complex challenges that don’t fit neatly into any one box.
This collection highlights the books that inspire our teaching, shape our research, and fuel the curiosity of our community.
Our books
As our book collection grows, so does the impact of the ideas within it. We hope these works expand your worldview, challenge your assumptions, and spark the imagination needed to surf the next wave of societal change and help continue to build and keep evolving the power of transdisciplinarity.
Understanding Design
Kees Dorst
Understanding Design opens up the inner logic of design practice, showing how designers make sense of complexity and create meaningful change in the world. Blending theory, reflection and real‑world examples, it reveals how design becomes a powerful way of thinking—one that bridges disciplines, reframes challenges and uncovers new possibilities.
Frame Innovation: Create New Thinking by Design
Kees Dorst
Design Expertise examines how expert designers navigate complexity, frame challenges and generate innovative solutions, offering valuable insights for tackling interconnected problems in an increasingly complex world.
Human Factors in Augmented Reality Environments
Tony Huang, Leila Alem and Mark A. Livingston
Human Factors in Augmented Reality Environments explores how people think, feel and behave when digital and physical worlds merge—revealing why human centred design is essential for AR to truly enhance our lives.
Bioenergy Crops for Ecosystem Health and Sustainability
Alex Baumber
This incredible book reimagines agriculture’s role in regenerative futures. Blending ecology, policy, community insight and systems thinking, it shows how bioenergy crops can restore landscapes, strengthen economies and produce cleaner energy—demonstrating the power of working across disciplines and with nature for lasting impact.
Reinventing Strategic Innovation
Kees Dorst, Barbara Doran & Rodger Watson
Reinventing Strategic Innovation explores how organisations can tackle complexity through design, systems thinking and collaboration, creating more adaptive and innovative responses to emerging challenges. (co-authored by Rodger Watson, Barbara Doran and other contributors)
Deep Change
Kees Dorst
Deep Change looks at how organisations and communities can create lasting transformation by challenging assumptions, reframing complex problems and working across disciplines to unlock new possibilities for meaningful change.
Design. Think. Make. Break. Repeat: A Handbook of Methods
Martin Tomitsch & other contributing authors
Design. Think. Make. Break. Repeat. is a practical workbook showcasing how design methods can help people tackle complex challenges through creativity, experimentation and collaboration. Encouraging an iterative approach to problem-solving, readers learn through making, testing and refining can unlock innovative ideas and drive meaningful change.
Computer Supported Collaboration
Tony Huang, M. Billinghurst, L. Alem, C. Xiao & T. Rasmussen
Computer‑Supported Collaboration dives into how digital technologies can strengthen teamwork, creativity and collective problem‑solving, helping people work more effectively across disciplines, organisations and distances.
Making Smarter Cities
Martin Tomitsch
Making Cities Smarter delves into how user experience design can make smart city technologies more intuitive, inclusive and human-centred. Focusing on the relationship between citizens and digital systems, the book offers practical insights for designing smarter urban experiences that better serve communities.
Designing Tomorrow
Martin Tomitsch & Steve Baty
Designing Tomorrow shows how strategic design can help organisations create more responsible, life-centred impact. By focusing on the systems that shape products, services and decisions, the book offers practical ways to anticipate consequences, imagine better futures, build partnerships and drive meaningful change.
Creative Practice and Embodied Narratives: Transdisciplinary Inquiry through the Body, Story, and System
Barbara Doran
Creative Practice and Embodied Narratives reveals how creativity, storytelling and lived experience can deepen understanding of complex challenges. Drawing on art, design and embodied inquiry, the book highlights diverse ways of knowing and shows how creative practice can inspire more meaningful, connected and transformative change.
Handbook of Human Centric Visualisation
Tony Huang
This engaging book explores how design, data, psychology and technology can make complex information more meaningful and actionable. By championing human-centred visualisation and the integration of diverse perspectives, it reflects the heart of TDS - bringing disciplines together to create insight and positive change.
Creative Reboot: Catalysing Creative Intelligence
Barbara Doran, Rodger Watson & Diana Vo
Creative Reboot unpacks how creativity can be developed as a practical capability for navigating complexity and change. Drawing on design, systems thinking and embodied practice, the book shows how curiosity, reflection and experimentation can unlock new ways of thinking, collaborating and creating positive futures.
Creativity +
Paulina LaRocca & Tony Ibbotson (art director)
Creativity+ cleverly investigates how creativity can be developed as a practical capability for tackling complex challenges and driving innovation. Combining practical tools, new ways of thinking and real-world insights, the book shows how experimentation, confidence and diverse perspectives can unlock more creative and impactful outcomes.
The Holey Bible
Paulina LaRocca & Tony Ibbotson (art director)
The Holey Bible offers insight into how challenging assumptions and embracing new perspectives can unlock creativity and innovation. Through practical tools and thought-provoking insights, the book shows how curiosity, experimentation and reframing problems can help individuals and teams discover imaginative solutions to complex challenges.
Reframing Entrepreneurship Education: Teaching Change Agents in Different Disciplines
Gunhild Roald, Fufen Jin, Sølvi Solvoll & Dag Håkon Haneberg
This book explores how teachers can develop students' entrepreneurial competence to drive positive change. By introducing the educational framework, I-CARE, it shows how Interaction, real-world challenges, action, reflection and embracing uncertainty can build the capabilities needed for innovation and impact.
Design Expertise
Kees Dorst & Bryan Lawson
Design Expertise analyses how expert designers navigate complexity, frame challenges and generate innovative solutions, offering valuable insights for tackling interconnected problems in an increasingly complex world.
Interpreting Objects in the Hybrid Museum
Helena Robinson
This book critically examines the convergence of museums, libraries and archives through real-world case studies. It explores how policy-driven organisational change shapes cultural collections, public meaning-making and professional practice, offering valuable insights for cultural policy and collections professionals.
Great books don't just inform us - they inspire us to think differently, question assumptions and imagine what's possible. Whether you read one or many, I hope these books leave you with ideas that stay with you long after you've turned the final page".
Meet Our Authors
These authors, from TDS, invite us to stretch our thinking, embrace ambiguity, collaborate deeply and create solutions that matter — for Australia and for the world.
Alex Baumber
Alex is a sustainability researcher focused on regenerative futures, environmental innovation and systems change. Drawing on expertise across policy, economics and community engagement, he explores how people and nature can work together to create more resilient and sustainable futures.
Barbara Doran
Barbara is a transdisciplinary innovation researcher specialising in creativity, collaborative problem-solving and systems change. Her work explores how people and organisations can unlock creative potential, navigate complexity and build the capabilities needed to create positive futures.
Kees Dorst
Kees is a transdisciplinary innovation researcher specialising in design thinking, complex problem-solving and systems innovation. His work helps organisations, governments and communities reframe challenges, navigate complexity and create meaningful change.
Paulina Larocca
Paulina is a creativity and innovation researcher specialising in creative intelligence, learning and human-centred change. Her work helps people and organisations unlock new ways of thinking, challenge assumptions and build the confidence to turn ideas into meaningful action.
Tony Huang
Tony is a researcher specialising in human-centred technology, data visualisation and collaborative innovation. His work brings together design, psychology and emerging technologies to help people better understand information, work together effectively and make sense of complexity.
Gunhild Marie Roald
Gunhild is an education researcher specialising in entrepreneurial learning, leadership development & building collaborative capabilities for complex environments. Her work explores how people can develop the mindset, skills & confidence needed to lead change, work across boundaries & create positive impact. (Gunhild is an honorary adjunct at TDS)
Martin Tomitsch
Martin is a design and innovation researcher specialising in futures thinking, human-centred design and emerging technologies. His work helps organisations and communities navigate uncertainty, imagine preferred futures and create meaningful change through design.
Helena Robinson
Helena is a researcher and educator focused on transdisciplinary collaboration, human agency in AI-mediated work, and future-ready capabilities. Drawing on expertise in cultural heritage, systems thinking and experiential learning, she explores how people, institutions and technologies work together to navigate complexity, uncertainty and change.
Bring These Ideas to Your Audience
Our authors invite us to stretch our thinking, embrace ambiguity, collaborate deeply and create solutions that matter — for Australia and for the world. If you are looking for expert insights, a keynote speaker, panel contributor or discussion facilitator, look no further.
Explore our range of speakers below and connect with the ideas shaping tomorrow.
Don't see the topic or expertise you're looking for? TDS is home to a diverse community of researchers, practitioners and thought leaders working across a wide range of fields. Get in touch and we'll help connect you with an expert who can meet your brief.
Please note - images on on this page are for illustrative purposes only. Actual book appearance, size and format may vary.