We are Strategic Designers, activating the mindsets and practices that support the transition from a linear to a circular economy in the food system. Through our work, we take part in the movement to design solutions for a regenerative, resilient and just future.

Imagine...

a world where food industry actors from farm to fork embrace their role in redesigning our food system, prioritizing practices that regenerate ecosystems, sustain livelihoods, and prevent waste from start to finish. This is the future that planet Earth needs, and the future that we work towards.

We work with businesses, organizations and individuals who are willing to get their hands dirty to challenge the status quo and shape a different future. Whether it is about reimagining a business’s role in the food system, identifying pathways to implement circular design strategies or reinforcing a strong sustainability mission, we bring our tool kit of research and design methods to work through the hard questions that organizations face today and together find answers that lead to impact.

Our Approach

As Strategic Designers, we put into practice the research and design methods that we’ve developed to solve the complex, interrelated challenges that the global community of changemakers must face today. We emphasise asking the questions that need to be addressed to find alternatives that work on both a local and systemic level.

Strategic Design

Strategic design uses systems thinking to understand the complexity behind issues, aiming at understanding challenges within the interrelated networks they are embedded in.
Transdisciplinary collaboration is put to work to understand and uncover the root of problems from different standpoints, and thereby design systemic solutions.
Strategic design is about exploring opportunities through iterations and prototypes, to tap into the power of learning through action and experimentation.

Our Services

We plant seeds for change through our impulse sessions and workshops, inviting participants to envision alternative futures, learn new methods and approaches, and commit to working towards a circular food system with all the opportunities it will bring.

We guide businesses to grow roots for change by co-identifying their unique role and potential in the food systems transformation, and developing their strategies to become part of the transition.

Our Partners, Clients and Collaborators:

"The realmatters team's professional interviews cut straight to the core of our challenges. Their ability to distill key insights and provide actionable recommendations within a short timeframe was remarkable."

– Natália Fava, Head of Group R&D at Bahlsen Group

Our Values

Continuous Learning: Deepening our existing knowledge is a crucial part of our daily work, as it fuels personal and professional development, inspires new ideas, and increases adaptability to the ever-changing world that we’re part of.

Meaningfulness: At the forefront of our mindset, meaningfulness helps us remain curious and humble, guiding us towards solutions that overcome greenwashing and bring transformational benefits to all actors involved in the change-making process.

Respectful Action: We are shareholders in the impacts of our work, and therefore act with respect for each other, our social context, and planet Earth. We want to leave the world we were born into in a better condition to how we found it.

Holistic Collaboration: We believe that innovative solutions are born from the fusion of varied knowledge that comes through overcoming disciplinary boundaries and integrating the contributions of like-minded yet diverse people from all sectors.

Hands-on Optimism: Redesigning the status quo takes courage and dedication, and to explore the many aspects of the problem we need to get our hands dirty. At realmatters, we approach challenges with proactive optimism rather than risk aversion.

Hi!

We’re Paula and Alexandra, Strategic Designers and Co-Creators of realmatters. Our journey together started during our Master’s degree in Strategic Design and Entrepreneurship at the Copenhagen Business School, where we found that our combined knowledge and competencies in business, design and sustainability created the broad skill set needed to fulfil our shared vision of establishing a role in the global food systems transition.

Since 2021, we’ve co-designed and carried out consulting projects, and research on the role of strategic design and systems thinking in tackling the sustainability challenges that our global society faces today, the success of which, and participation in an incubator programme, inspired the creation of realmatters

As Strategic Designers we believe that we can co-create an alternative food system – we look forward to doing so with you!