DESIGN LAB PRACTICE
This course explores the technical, social and ethical dimensions of producing and creating content to be shared and consumed online. Exploration of the varying modalities of communication is undertaken by looking at content through the phases of production, dissemination and consumption and exploring the impacts of this process on disciplines of creative arts and design.
Exploration of a variety of methods for producing, collecting, collating and curating online content is undertaken with the goal of working with a client to create a brief and then designing, curating and producing a product that is successful in meeting the clients requests by communicating and justifying each designs decision. The impact of technology on content production and curation will also be examined through out the process.
3580QCA
This project aims to demonstrate a range of design tools to create visually engaging content.
An Introduction
Module I
Lecture Reflection
Forming a group for the assessments in the course commenced with identifying commonalities between classmates in response to the question "from what perspective would you like to respond to the climate crisis?"
Given the recent bushfire crisis and the increasing amount of time spent sitting in traffic on Gold Coast roads, my group formed to design solutions that combat these issues that are incredibly close to home.
Our strengths lie in the fact that we have all been impacted in some way by both these events and our team is multidisciplinary; with group members experienced in graphic design, film making, hand drawing, 3D modelling and rendering. This week we all chose an element of our topics to research with the intention being to come back next week and create a problem statement or question that our design project will be responding to. I chose to look at the zones of bush fire hazard and flood risk on the Gold Coast.
Project Brief
Climate Crisis
Creative Conscience is an awards program for students and graduates (up to two years) with the goal of creating a space for people to make real, tangible change. They offer a variety of briefs in different areas however, for this project we are focusing on the ever evolving 'Climate Crisis'.
To create this project brief Creative Conscience has teamed up with Extinction Rebellion. The goal for this project is to create a two minute film and supporting documentation that creates a change within one or more of the following themes:
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Community
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Education & Learning
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Environment & Sustainability
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Equality & Justice
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Health, Wellbeing & Disability
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War & Crisis
The submission will be judged on it's creative approach and potential impact, with students having the opportunity to submit their project directly to Creative Conscience and Extinction Rebellion as well as the university if they wish.
Identifying (Potential) Safe Zones
Bush Fire Hazard & Flood Risk Zones
ORMEAU
HIGHLAND PARK
ASHMORE
ROBINA
Floods, Fire and the Future: Planning & Natural Hazard Management on the Gold Coast, Australia
A Case Study
In 2008, a paper was presented to the ACSP-AESOP 4th Joint Congress in Chicago, USA. The conference theme the year was “Bridging the Divide: Celebrating the City” focused on the mediating role of cities in conflicts between racial and ethnic groups. This paper identified the environmental hazards or 'wicked problems' that, combined with the increasing impacts of climate change and the rising population and urbanisation of the Gold Coast, the extent of these hazardous events appeared to be increasing. Gold Coast communities are impacted by environmental hazards that include bush fires, landslips, flooding, cyclones, storm surges and drought.
The Australian Government operates on a system that means it is the State Governments jurisdiction to respond to and assist with environmental hazards, with the federal government taking a purely advisory role. As the state governments are also responsible for planning and zoning land use they are in the unique position of responsible for managing the increased environmental hazards and urbanisation and population growth.
The paper discusses multiple case studies on land that was to be developed into low to medium residential spaces. These case studies showed that most hazard mitigation plans put in place are oriented towards the history and previous environmental hazards instead of exploring the potential future dangers that occur through climate change.
Gold Coast City Potential Bushfire Hazard Map, 2008
(Adapted from Gold Coast City Council, 1998 Map 2)
Australian Context
Module II
Lecture Reflection
Our westernised history of design follows on singular story of great (white) men creating great things. However, this leaves out design by other cultures and the narratives that went on behind the biggest movements in design. There is a conception that design fits into a series of labels that design for people when design is now moving to a phase that allows us to design with people.
Praxis is the theory and practise that creates informed and committed action; this is the philosophy of a design lab. A design lab extends beyond the traditional paradigms of design (interior, graphic, fashion etc.) and instead focuses on large issues such as climate change and rising population. Design Labs aim to analyse and synthesise knowledge in order to inform their design solutions. They work with people to research and undertake projects the work to solve systemic wicked problems and propose design solutions to divert the futures course from their current trajectory.
My understanding is that the purpose of a design lab is to lead discussion with a community, often on behalf of government organisations (whether local, state or federal). Design labs do not design for trend or profit but rather for social and environmental benefit. Our current ways of being in the world are problematic because they are not sustainable in the long term. These ways of being are not just environmentally unsustainable but also politically, economically, socially and technologically.Design labs go through the process of designing to shift these ways of being in a social context. As part of this, the self-reflection and awareness of your own value set forms part of the design process with day to day decisions impacting on the process, consciously and subconsciously.
As there are so few Australian design labs it is heard to imagine that they are doing enough to transition to radically new social, economic, and political paradigms. More design labs are needed to see real change, however the limited amount we have now are likely doing as much as they can within the constraints of their size. Australian Design labs could engage in Arturo Excobar's understanding of autonomous design by working with local communities across the country to prevent whitewashing and ensuring direct solutions are found without looking at a problem and design solution from a North Western perspective that can't be translated to a South Eastern sphere.
On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal
Reading Reflection
The introduction of Naomi Klein's book highlights the huge problem that the human species has created for themselves. Climate change is not a new problem, in fact, the climate has always been changing. But as we see glaciers continue to melt, cyclones batter communities across the globe, families lose their homes to flood and fire and plants and species disappear forever, climate change is everyone's problem now. On a local scale we have seen bush fires, floods and drought impact communities across Australia in a few short months. I believe that these climate disasters are highlighting the weak points in our current systems, leaving in their wake a time for trans-formative design to better prepare and prevent.
What I believe Naomi is saying in her introduction is that the Anglosphere's want to continue taking from every new world they inhabit comes from a lack of connection to country. This capitalist society that has been enforced (largely by the British) on pre-colonial Australia and America are largely to blame for the climate crisis these countries face and yet these countries choose to focus on issues of the economy and closing boarders to refugees rather than considerations for the fast approaching future. The ironic part of this whole debate is that in a global world we are all immigrants and we all need to solve this problem.
Design Lab: PaperGiant
Mini Activity
PaperGiant is a national design lab with offices based in Melbourne and Canberra. They "combine research, design and strategy to create human-centred solutions to the complex problems that the world, people and organisations face". My interpretation of this is that they focus largely on experience design and ethnography. They appear to do extensive research into the areas that they are designing for and addressing the problems of, making themselves experts in the field before designing a response.
Perspectives on School Climate Strikes
Summary
I wish that we had got to this point when I was in High School.
Developing Our Brief
Return Brief
GOAL
Our overarching goal for this project is to design a solutions to improve accessibility to public transport on the Gold Coast.
IMPACT
The primary impact we hope to make public transport a more convenient option for people to get to the places they need to in their day-to-day lives (work, school, home, hobbies etc.). The secondary impact we hope to make through this initiative is to relax the impact our current transportation choices have on climate change on a local, national and, hopefully, global scale.
SUCCESS
Success for this project will be the creation of a concept that is easily interpreted and understood. Wider success beyond this project would look like 'a city and population that relies more heavily on public transport, cycling or walking rather than driving'.
WORKING FOR US
We have a diverse team with a variety of skill sets and backgrounds (graphic design, interior design, industrial design, film making, hand-drawing, 3D modelling etc.) which allows us to have a multi-faceted approach to problem solving and solution development. The problem we are tackling is also and urgent and relevant one which means there are a wide variety of information and resources available to us which is beneficial in the research phase. Our project goal is a broad one, allowing us a variety of opportunities for exploration and development which means there are many opportunities for design response. We plan to use these points to our advantage by ensuring that each group member has a task to complete each week that plays to their strengths and advances the project to the next stage.
WORKING AGAINST US
Although having a variety of opportunities and avenues we can explore is a positive, it can also work against us. As a team we need to stay clear and on track in order to prevent this project from getting too big or going off on a tangent. This point also leads on to our time frame for this project, as our concept could become too large to be achievable within the time frame. We will address these challenges by ensuring our goals are clear and concise, and that we are checking in with our group members throughout the week and in class making sure that we are on track and providing support where needed.
PROJECT STEPS
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Brainstorm all options
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Refine our focus
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Research elements
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Visualise our concepts
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Assemble presentation and pdf
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Present our concept
QUESTIONS FOR EXPLORATION
KEY PLAYERS AND COLLABORATORS
EARLY NARRATIVE
Our intentions that can be shared with others
NEXT STEPS
As we are in the research phase (3) of this project each group member has chosen an element from our brainstorming phase (1) to research further and bring back to class next week to with the hopes that we have an even clearer direction to take this project in.
Autonomous Design and the Emergent Transnational Critical Design Studies Field
Reading Reflection
Design is an industry of change so it makes sense that it is one of the disciplines that is most open to adaptation.
Arturo Escobar identifies design as a world-making practice, what does this mean for design in the context of the climate crisis?
How does Escobar's discussion on decentering design from Eurocentric accounts relate to Klein's point on the myths of the Anglosphere?
Summarise the concept of Autonomous Design. Why might this be beneficial in tackling the climate crisis?
Pick a word from either reading and find out more about what it means.
Anthropocentrism
Definition
Station Design
Research & Critique
Written by the Department of Transport and Main Roads in 2016 is a 56 page manual on Bus Stop Infrastructure that outlines in great detail the guidelines and expectations of a bus stop. There are a few key flaws that stand out to me in this guide that I believe are worth redesigning (or at least some discussion). Whilst the document is quick to inform the reader of the disability accessibility requirements that are required, it does little to remind us that the users of this space are actually people.
The first flaw that stood out to me is that bus stops in low-density suburban and rural have limited to no seating. Not only does this marginalise those who are unable to stand for long periods (the elderly or injured etc.), it prevents people from comfortably waiting for longer periods of time as the buses that stop at these stations often come far more infrequently than buses in the city centre. Additionally, these bus stops are less likely to be covered making it uncomfortable to wait for public transport if it is hot or raining. Another flaw that came to light is that bus stops often have limited space for interaction. If there is seating it is placed in an antisocial way; facing away from others with arm wrests dividing seating places. Understandably, encouraging interaction could be a safety concern for some but given to the lack of lighting that is installed at these stops, clearly neither of these factors have been considered. I have focused mostly on smaller bus stops that exist in places other than town centres as those areas are often more considered as it is assumed that this is where people with to travel to and congregate. However, given the research brought to light in my exploration of 'Invisible Women', the way most women (and some men) travel is through these smaller residential zones that are currently lacking the facilities to support them.
How We Travel
Research & Critique
The 2019 book 'Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men' by Caroline Criado Perez explores the design industries biggest flaw of design for the "average" person (often a straight, white, middle-aged, western man) and how good design can be undertaken with out this bias. My following research has been taken from case studies in her book.
There is a key difference in how men and women travel (obviously this does not apply to ALL men and women, but in this circumstance I am going to generalise). Men are more likely to travel directly to their destination and then directly home, this means they tend to travel on the larger arterial roads or main transport routes (the ones our current system is design to support). However, women are more likely to trip-chain. This means that a woman's journey often has multiple stops and these mean that she is more likely to travel on smaller roads to multiple locations in one journey: taking the kids to school, running an errand, dropping in on an elderly relative, going to work, picking kids up, taking them to after school activities etc. Whilst it is important to support the workers who travel into the local hubs everyday, it is also important to support the people who trip-chain as they are the ones who contribute the largest amount of unpaid work to our society. Globally women do three times the amount of unpaid care work men do, and this is incredibly beneficial to a local economy.
In order cater for both types of travel, the Gold Coast's transport network needs redevelopment because currently the most efficient way to trip chain is by car. A possible solution is that the Gold Coast could adopt an orthogonal bus route which is a grid based route much better suited to those who are trip-chaining as opposed to a spiderweb, which condenses into a 'city centre' where it is assumed all transport users are travelling to. Additionally, it is highlighted that public transport needs to develop more 'intermediate services' like mini buses or small battery powered cars to allow people to reach areas that the main lines of public transport miss.
International Context
Module III
Lecture Reflection
Climate change is viewed as a contentious topic and Design Labs are hoping to change this. Design Labs are much more popular overseas than in Australia. In Australia the opinions on climate change are often grouped into left or right, however this is not necessarily true for overseas. Responses from governments internationally are likely to be bipartisan. This aside, climate change is happening and in order to prevent it further, we need to reach net zero carbon emissions. Net zero implies that the carbon emissions will be offset compared to zero carbon emissions which is unlikely and close to impossible. The climate action tracker has identified Morocco as the country that is currently doing the most to fight climate change with the goal of having 50% of all power produced by solar in by 2030.
Climate change impacts us indirectly and this is one of the reasons it is such a contentious issue. Climate change is believed to be a myth by some due to propaganda, the media and the lack of big obvious impacts on people's day-to-day lives. We need to change how we live in order to reach net zero carbon emissions, but people are afraid of change. Climate change clashes with our way of living which makes it easier for people to ignore it. Another reason climate change is such a contentious issue is that the large contributors who are producing these carbon emissions are funding research to disprove climate change allegations. Because of this, it is important to check where your research is coming from, who funded it, if the writers are qualified and if they have been peer-reviewed.
On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal
Reading Reflection
This piece is not all doom and gloom, with Naomi exploring the possibilities for change that could occur in order to divert the human species from it's current downward trajectory. It begins with understanding that even though we are all contributors to this problem that effects us all, some are more to blame than others. Governments and large companies who are the shapers of the society that we live in are modelled on profits. For climate change to slow, these larger players need to make the biggest shift. Naomi argues that, in exchange for the sacrifices to the profit margins of large companies and governments, the creation of a green new deal would increase the quality of life for an average, everyday person. As we see a move away from charities and towards businesses that act in a charitable fashion, the lines are blurred and perhaps this is one of the many solutions to climate crisis we are currently facing.
The green new deal is an economic plan to create new opportunities for growth and sustainability. Inspired by the set of reforms undertaken by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the great depression, Naomi's green new deal is a 14 page packet of legislation that addresses both climate change and economic inequality. The green new deal looks beyond just solving climate change and hope to reform social and economic inequality too.
Naomi believes that if we are unable to address climate change we will continue to see a rise in fascism and eco-fascism. Eco-fascism is seen in the rise of climate deniers that are embedding themselves in our leadership and media. Whilst I agree with Naomi that there has been a rise in this mentality, I don't think that this is a new way of thinking. In 1959, on the 100th birthday of American Oil, physicist Edward Teller warned the oil industry about global warming. Since that point (over the last sixty years) these large corporations have launched campaigns of climate confusion. In the report 'America Mislead' the authors defines the similarities between the promotions launched by tobacco companies and oil industries to mislead the public about their products with a goal of delaying government policies and regulations that could cut into their profits. As nice as it is to think that "we are all in this together", there is sufficient evidence that links two-thirds of the problems created by climate crisis to a very specific list of companies that operate in the Anglosphere, purely for profits.
Individuals alone can't solve these problems; governments, businesses and design all plays a role in the solution. Design can play a role in dismantling this by working to solve a variety of systemic problems that plague.
Design Lab:
Mini Activity
International design labs are often defined by their experimentation, collaborative learning and ability to connect with community. They are funded by the government, academia, the private sector and passionate people. Design labs offer practice led research and act as incubators for organisations that experiment with new forms of economy and ways of living, they put emphasis on working with communities to create relevant and achievable future narratives.
ShiftN is a design lab based in Leuven, Belgium. Whilst their projects mostly focus around the medical industry, it is there approach that offer parallels to the process we are undertaking to complete this project.
Their approach includes:
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A Systems Thinking Approach
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A Futures Thinking Approach
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A Design Thinking Approach
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An Organisational Change Approach
Similarly to our design process, ShiftN commences by analysing the current systems in place and identifying the points in which they fail. They then consider and map what the future or futures could look like for this design (wicked) problem. ShiftN then uses their skills as designers to rethink and recreate current systems and then implement the change into the organisation.
The simple form of reflection on each completed project is also and effective way to check in on the success of the project undertaken. The titles of challenge, contribution, and impact concisely demonstrate to potential clients the impact that ShiftN is having as a design lab.
To me, the most memorable part of their website is that they include the closest public transport options for those wishing to reach their studio, before mentioning the car park.
"We’re here to create clarity in complexity."
"Our world is in flux. Placing us at the cusp of profound paradigm shifts.
How can we increase sustainability, resilience, quality of life and equitability while going through these transformations?
shiftN helps changemakers imagining new futures, exploring new ways to work together, and crafting new strategies. Our signature: finely honed systemic approaches for collective impact."
Engaging in Co-Design
Q&A Reflection
Thinking about your brief; what combination of government, art, science, design, industry and other institutions would be right for you to engage in a co-design process with?
Wicked Problems & Futures Arriving
Research & Critique
We can't predict the future, however it would be irresponsible to not review the data and explore the arriving futures and the wicked problems that are forcing them to occur.
Wicked Problems are large problems that are almost impossible to solve. Attribution science, Nuremberg Trials
I believe that the only way to hold these corporations accountable is to stage a historical equivalent to the Nuremberg Trails. The unique aspect of the Nuremberg Trails is that they were used to convict people for actions that had not been a crime at the time of committing them. Obviously this opened up a huge legal can of worms as this could set a scary precedent for the future of law, however, as they were dealing with an unprecedented global crisis the exception was made.
According to the CSIRO, there are six Global Megatrends that we can see surfacing in the next fifty years. This includes some positives, like the shift to more unique, personal products or silk highway which sees a rise from poverty with a growing middle class in Asia and South America. However, some of these a more negative including the loss of many species and the depletion of resources (although this presents an opportunity for greater change).
"A wicked problem is a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognise."
Speculative Futures
Module IV
Lecture Reflection
A Design Fiction is a design tool and vision for a fictional future. This is a narrative that we may want for the futures. It is way to test ideas and their possible impacts. These fictions can take any form from a story to a city plan, a film, or model to an exhibition.
Feminist Futures of Spatial Practice
Reading Reflection
The authors of this piece believe that we need to change the names assigned to socio-environmental futures. This is because the current dialogue that is used to describe these, ignores key issues that contribute to the climate crisis such at the social divide and the gender divide. The authors identify that it is those from low-income nations who are the first to be effected by climate change, as Naomi Klein stated in the Green New deal. As highlighted in readings from the previous weeks, links can be found between the rise of fascism and the far right, the widening social divide, racial segregation and gender in-acceptance and the battle with climate change. These socio-environmental issues have many parallels and by working with these segregated groups we are able to create alternative solutions that are relevant, adaptable and (most importantly) able to be implemented to make tangible change.
The ecological modernisation model is problematic because it perpetuates a belief that continued economic growth is vital for environmental development. Currently the lenses of gender, class, ethnicity and culture are not applied to the ecological modernisation model despite their impact on the economy and more importantly the future of environmental development. Through a feminist lens the authors are able to address the gendered structures in our economy and lifestyle and question the hierarchies and divisions to create equity between societal groups, territories, species and generations.
There are many practices that occur in capitalist economies that are non-capitalist. As highlighted by the authors, the development of new urban spaces (additions of bike lanes, light rails and green roofs etc.) are often undertaken to benefit the environment as well as the wider society, therefore indirectly benefiting the economy. In addition to these public private partnerships, other non-capitalist practices that occur in capitalist economies include corporate social responsibilities such as the Westpac rescue helicopter, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (funded by Microsoft),
Re-imagine the Future
Mini Activity
Angela Oguntala
Unknowingly narrowing your perception through perpetuated stereotypes. Reading from a variety of authors, listening to music and songs from other cultures, exploring pop culture in other countries.
What are the key messages you are taking away from these videos?
How do the videos relate to this week's readings?
Sustainability Strategy: Backcasting from Success
Mini Activity
Rather then forecasting
What is backcasting? How might it be used to respond to the climate crisis?
What are you dreams / fears for the future?
Public Transport in Pandemics
Sub-Title Here...
Speculative Critical Design Futures in a Post-Political and Post-Utopian Era
Reading Reflection
In this text, Damien White states that the world of design is naturally drawn towards utopias: in-fact we all are. However the climate crisis that we are currently facing incorporates a variety of issues such as inequality, class struggle, climate crisis, human-animal-machine relations, trans-humanism, the future of sexuality, surveillance and militarism. Damien asserts in his text that these alternative futures need to be identified in order to begin on the path to solving these complex, multi-faceted issues. This has become a common strain amongst the reading of the past few weeks. As identified by both Klein and Escobar, in order to 'solve' climate change, we also need to resolve the systemic issues that face our planet.
Damien defines ecological modernisation as the aspiration for a utopia. This utopia isn't necessarily realistic and it doesn't fit into one mould as each of us has our own interpretation for what we believe would be an idealistic utopia. Fry argues that the ecological modernisation model is problematic because it is stagnant and resistant to change. It has one goal, of achieving a fanciful world where everything is green and rosy (with no further plan beyond that). Rather than aiming for one single utopia, a more realistic goal would be create a system that is open to and able to change and adapt to the social, cultural, political, environmental issues that it faces.
Damien believes that the design is industry is one of the few typically capitalist economies that has the ability to adapt the current concept of 'future'. Design engages in many non-capitalist practices such as prototyping, prefiguring and speculative thinking. Designers cannot fear failure as it is part of the design process, therefore change is too. This ability to embrace change makes the broader design community (design researcher, design thinkers etc) and the social science community the best equipped to continue problem solving in a time of change.
We need the capacity, which critical forms of design have, for flights of fantasy, for saying the unsayable, for proposing absurdities.
- Damien White
Where do the Children Play?
Research & Critique
Decolonising Design
Module V
Lecture Reflection
Climate change is viewed as a contentious topic and Design Labs are hoping to change this. Design Labs are much more popular overseas than in Australia. In Australia the opinions on climate change are often grouped into left or right, however this is not necessarily true for overseas. Responses from governments internationally are likely to be bipartisan. This aside, climate change is happening and in order to prevent it further, we need to reach net zero carbon emissions. Net zero implies that the carbon emissions will be offset compared to zero carbon emissions which is unlikely and close to impossible. The climate action tracker has identified Morocco as the country that is currently doing the most to fight climate change with the goal of having 50% of all power produced by solar in by 2030.
Climate change impacts us indirectly and this is one of the reasons it is such a contentious issue. Climate change is believed to be a myth by some due to propaganda, the media and the lack of big obvious impacts on people's day-to-day lives. We need to change how we live in order to reach net zero carbon emissions, but people are afraid of change. Climate change clashes with our way of living which makes it easier for people to ignore it. Another reason climate change is such a contentious issue is that the large contributors who are producing these carbon emissions are funding research to disprove climate change allegations. Because of this, it is important to check where your research is coming from, who funded it, if the writers are qualified and if they have been peer-reviewed.
What Is at Stake with Decolonizing Design?
Reading Reflection
Why is it necessary to decolonise design?
Why does Luiza Prado believe that any process to decolonise must also confront the patriarchy?
What are some of the key steps to decolonising design?
Dismantling the patriarchy
How have colonial histories affected the way in which we design?
Describe "othering", you can use an example from one of the texts to support your discussion.
Othering is the separation of a culture being by highlighting the intrinsic differences from oneself.
What Does It Mean to Decolonize Design?
Reading Reflection
Why is it necessary to decolonise design?
Why does Luiza Prado believe that any process to decolonise must also confront the patriarchy?
What are some of the key steps to decolonising design?
How have colonial histories affected the way in which we design?
Describe "othering", you can use an example from one of the texts to support your discussion.
What Does It Mean to Decolonize Design?
Studio Activity
Our diets.
Identify which systems exist within this thing, which ones need decolonising?
Eating food from our local area. Has naturally occurring remedies. Is grown locally. Supporting larger corporations instead of local small system. Transport, businesses and consumers. Mass farming. Bush tucker.
Consumer needs to be decolonised. Making decisions to eat seasonal produce.
Create a statement of problems and possibilities for your thing
Lack of awareness, gap of knowledge from farm to table. Supporting local business and farmers from a local area. Decrease the amount of trucks on the road.
Tariffs or taxes on products from further away so local ones are cheaper. You'd have to talk to agricultural ministers, consumers, farmers and growers. Including native plants in our diet. Increasing food education
Decolonising Our Design Project
Reading Reflection
Drawing on our design fiction from last week, discuss how you would ensure your climate crisis intervention is decolonising. Or at the very least, isn't reinforcing ongoing colonisation). Take notes and propose modifications to your design projects.
Assessment I Submission
Module VI
Reflection
A Design Fiction is a design tool and vision for a fictional future. This is a narrative that we may want for the futures. It is way to test ideas and their possible impacts. These fictions can take any form from a story to a city plan, a film, or model to an exhibition.
Systemic Design
Module VII
Lecture Reflection
Climate change is viewed as a contentious topic and Design Labs are hoping to change this. Design Labs are much more popular overseas than in Australia. In Australia the opinions on climate change are often grouped into left or right, however this is not necessarily true for overseas. Responses from governments internationally are likely to be bipartisan. This aside, climate change is happening and in order to prevent it further, we need to reach net zero carbon emissions. Net zero implies that the carbon emissions will be offset compared to zero carbon emissions which is unlikely and close to impossible. The climate action tracker has identified Morocco as the country that is currently doing the most to fight climate change with the goal of having 50% of all power produced by solar in by 2030.
Climate change impacts us indirectly and this is one of the reasons it is such a contentious issue. Climate change is believed to be a myth by some due to propaganda, the media and the lack of big obvious impacts on people's day-to-day lives. We need to change how we live in order to reach net zero carbon emissions, but people are afraid of change. Climate change clashes with our way of living which makes it easier for people to ignore it. Another reason climate change is such a contentious issue is that the large contributors who are producing these carbon emissions are funding research to disprove climate change allegations. Because of this, it is important to check where your research is coming from, who funded it, if the writers are qualified and if they have been peer-reviewed.
Living Systems Principles
Reading Reflection
Why is it important for designers to understand systems?
I believe that it is important for designers to understand systems as it provides them with a past, present and potential future for a concept or story. Everything that is created effects a living system, and it is imperative to understand the everything we create also destroys or changes an existing system.
Does your concepting for Assessment 1 make use of any of the the Living Systems Principles, in what way?
The problem becomes cyclicle unhealthy feedback group. 4 & 9
Explore how you could apply one of the Living Systems Principles to your concept for Assessment 1.
The Role of Design & Designers in Socio-Technical Transitions
Reading Reflection
Why is it important for designers to understand systems?