Bill Moggridge, USA [HERE]
Geetha Narayanan, India
Luisa Collina, Italy
Mugendi M Rithaa, Africa [HERE]
Aguinaldo dos Santos, Brasil [HERE]
Lou Yongqi, China [HERE]
Fumi Masuda, Asia [HERE]
Cris Ryan, Australia
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Complex problems are messy! They make your head hurt! They are difficult to understand and challenging to solve, but they are often the ones that make a difference to the sustainability of our society and planet. If designers are to change the vector of change, we will need clarity about the directions that we choose as well as our methods.
The paper describes the design research methods that he has seen employed in the USA, as well as elsewhere in his travels, both in general and for sustainability. It examines the design research methods that are used as part of the design process, as well as the research about design itself, illustrating his findings with examples.
Geetha Narayanan, Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, INDIA
The Taste of India. India as Design or Designing India.
Beginning with the local and with an India set in the early 50s and 60s the paper juxtaposes the development of the culture and the business of food and food related products and services in India against the rapid panoramic change that the country has seen in the last two decades.
Using real voices of designers, the paper intersperses commentary with dialogue enabling an understanding of the complexity embedded in the field of design, design research and practice in India today.
What emerges from this is a set of conundrums that highlight design-related concerns for the future.
Luisa Collina, Politecnico di Milano, ITALY
In which way in EUROPE design is, or is not, an agent for sustainability?
In Europe, several PhD programs in design have been established. Some of them started research lines on design for sustainability or, more precisely, on the different possible intersections between design and the emerging environmental and social problems. Complementary to these academic institutions, other organisations have developed, and are developing, interesting initiatives. For instance: some EU funded projects, some independent programs (as the Sustainable Everyday Project, Doors of Perception or Multiplicity), some entrepreneurial activities (as the ones promoted by Philips Design or Design Continuum).
The paper will move from the map of these initiatives and research lines, to discuss their cultural and social background and perspectives. The paper main aim is to present the potentiality of the European design to the worldwide demand of design research for changing the change.
Mugendi M Rithaa, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, SOUTH AFRICA
Engaging Change. African Universities' Response to Design for Sustainability.
Africa has a predominantly youthful demographic- it makes sense to engage the youth at a time when societies can indeed change the change. This paper presents an overview of design education in a number of African universities. The information covered includes their student profiles and details of design programmes with a specific slant on sustainability. Of particular interest (and relevance to CtC) is the question of how flexible the curricula is in response to the needs of local communities and societies in a formal (or informal) sense.
It is heartening to note, that in spite of pervasive financial limitations, a vision of a sustainable future is still possible. To realize this vision requires a proactive and creative response. Some of the institutions presented in this paper have embraced the ideals of design for sustainability and are actively equipping future designers with requisite skills for bringing about positive social transformation.
Aguinaldo dos Santos, Federal University of Paraná, BRAZIL
Design research and locally-based social initiatives
In South America, due to poverty, a large portion of its society has learnt to live with fewer resources, paradoxically surrounded by an abundance of resources. On such environment entrepreneurship, flexibility with cultural diversity and easiness to deal with uncertainty is required from people on a daily basis in order to guarantee survival. Such environment aligned with an increase on the education levels, political awareness and information access, has induced a widespread of locally-based social initiatives that in many cases represent truly innovative social changes towards sustainability. Hence, based on this context, this article presents emblematic case studies gathered mostly in Brazil, trying to understand their underlying strategies to radically change current patterns of consumption and production.
Lou Yongqi, Tongji University, CHINA
Calling for "She Ji": Rethinking and Changing the Changes in China
This paper gives special attention to China's traditional "She Ji (design)" system which almost been replaced by western oriented modern design disciplines for century. The advantages of "She Ji" notion have become increasingly obvious according to the criteria of sustainability. The considering of sustainable develop provide a pause for rethink, revaluate, and redesign many phases and changes in China. This paper tries to outline a vision that the dual-structure of "She Ji (design)" system can offer new philosophies and methodologies for Chinese design, design education and design research. The ways in which design can play important roles in culturally conscious and be an agent for sustainability in China is also explored together with some cases.
Fumi Masuda,
Asian view of sustainable future
In order to explain possibilities and evidences of "Changing the Change", the paper will start from the historical background of Japanese craftsmanship and will arrive to outline the on-going tendencies in eco-design, and in the emerging consciuness that eco-design is not just to improve products, but is the actualization of sustainable society.
As conclusion, the paper will propose the idea that, although Asian societies certainly are going through a radical change, there are also unchanging cultural aspects. One of this is flexibility in change. Historically, both natural and cultural sustainability had been secured through this flexibility and hopefully this system will be able to work out for the future to come.
Chris Ryan, Melbourne University, AUSTRALIA
An rapid re-focusing on sustainability
Two issues explain the connection between design and sustainability in Australia. The election a decade ago of a national government that viewed 'climate change' as a threat to its (fossil fuel) business power base, and the visibility of climate change because of drought (cities are rationed and agriculture and national river systems are threatened). Concern about water and climate change was instrumental in the defeat of the national government last year. In the practice of design, as in other areas of business, there is a rapid re-focusing on sustainability. However, the orientation is again towards 'eco-re-design' not design for systems change. In recent large scale government programs to 'promote' design, there is still a real disconnect between design promotion and eco-innovation.