I prefer not to: Anti-progressive designing

© 2019 selection and editorial matter, Gretchen Coombs, Andrew McNamara, Gavin Sade; individual chapters, the contributors. Though designing is cast as a creative practice, materializing preferable ways of being, it does so only by destroying current products, habits and values. I argue that designers must learn to acknowledge and take responsibility for this destructive side to their practice. Designers can cultivate their destructive capacities and deploy those against all that is unsustainable about current societies. However, to do so also entails challenging prevalent notions that what is preferable is progress, advancement beyond how things were done before. Instead, I argue that the most creatively destructive thing designers can do is work to restore previous, more sustainable ways of living and workin

Art vs Design: Saving Power vs Enframing, or A Thing of the Past vs World-Making

a debate with the co-author Cameron Tonkinwise of Carnegie Mellon University, USA, as to the ontological acumen of art versus design

Staging systems to feel round the corners of transition design

The challenges our societies face, such as climate change, require radical innovation (Proactionary Principle [Fuller]). But the complexity of our societies also demand that we be more attentive to the consequences of those innovations (Precautionary Principle). The challenges we face are, after all, the result of previously unanticipated consequences. It is by definition not possible to anticipate ‘black swans,’ but we should perhaps expect more than to cultivate an anti-fragility that merely awaits shocks [Talib]. How then to develop rich senses of the consequences of innovations designed to respond to phenomena like climate change? We call this capacity ‘seeing around corners,’ since the aim is not merely to build a system model that can predict an end state, but instead to sense what is possible and likely once at the position of that end-state. An analogy would be the ability to forsee texting-while-driving whilst designing the user experience of a cell phone. Theoretically, the point would be that As an aside, we are interested in ‘seeing around corners’ in reaction to an increasing tendency in commercial systems design to give up on larger-scale forethought and instead trust in Lean Emergence. We wish to preserve the Situatedness that comes from these ways of working (that is a corrective to temptations to ‘See like a State’ Planning), but nevertheless see the need for more forceful directedness, especially when negotiating societal challenges requiring strong, voluntary actions

People-Oriented Perspectives on Designing The Future Energy Market

A report on workshops conducted to explore how Human-Centred Design approaches could help plan the transition to more sustainable Distributed Energy System

Transition Design: An Educational Framework for Advancing the Study and Design of Sustainable Transitions

El siguiente documento tiene como objetivo proporcionar algo de la historia y la teoría del diseño que se está utilizando en la Escuela de Diseño de la Universidad Carnegie Mellon en su esfuerzo por constituir la práctica del Diseño para la Transición. Explica cómo la profesión y la disciplina del diseño están experimentando una rápida expansión y transformación que permiten un rico conjunto de marcos para el Diseño para la Transición. Este artículo argumenta que los diseñadores no solo pueden y deben aprender de los estudios para la transición, sino que el diseño puede contribuir recíprocamente a través de nuevos enfoques para enmarcar problemas relacionados con el cambio sociotécnico dentro del contexto de ecosistemas complejos.The following paper aims to purvey some of the design history and theory that is being used by the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University in its effort to constitute the practice of Transition Design. It will explain how the profession and discipline of design is currently undergoing rapid expansion and transformation that afford a rich set of frameworks for transition design. This paper argues that not only can and should designers learn from transition studies, but that design can contribute reciprocally through new approaches to framing problems related to sociomaterial change within the context of complex ecosystems.O documento a seguir tem como objetivo fornecer um pouco da história e da teoria do design que está sendo usada na Escola de Design da Universidade Carnegie Mellon em seu esforço para constituir a prática do Design for Transition. Explique como a profissão e a disciplina de design estão passando por uma rápida expansão e transformação que permite um rico conjunto de estruturas para o Design for Transition. Este artigo argumenta que os designers não apenas podem e devem aprender com os estudos de transição, mas que o design pode contribuir reciprocamente por meio de novas abordagens para enquadrar problemas relacionados à mudança sociotécnica no contexto de ecossistemas complexos

Transition Design: The Importance of Everyday Life and Lifestyles as a Leverage Point for Sustainability Transitions

El desafío central de la era actual es la transición hacia la sostenibilidad. Esta transición debe definirse en los términos más amplios posibles. Es un proyecto que es a la vez político, social, económico, cultural, científico y tecnológico: cada dimensión de los asuntos humanos se ve desafiada por la necesidad de transición y, a medida que varios temas alcanzan puntos críticos (cambio climático, inequidad, agotamiento de recursos, pérdida de biodiversidad, etc.) aumenta la urgencia con la que esto debe suceder. La Escuela de Diseño de la Universidad Carnegie Mellon ha respondido a este desafío mediante la introducción de lo que ha llamado “Diseño para la Transición” en los planes de estudio en los niveles de pregrado, posgrado y doctorado (Irwin 2015) y que “toma como premisa central la necesidad de transiciones sociales hacia futuros más sostenibles y argumenta que el diseño tiene un papel clave que desempeñar en estas transiciones” (Irwin et al. 2015b: 1).The core challenge of the current era is the transition towards sustainability. This transition needs to be defined in the broadest terms possible. It is a project that is at once political, social, economic, cultural, scientific and technological: every dimension of human affairs is challenged by the need for transition, and, as various issues reach critical points (climate change, inequity, resource depletion, biodiversity loss, etc) the urgency with which this needs to happen increases. The School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University have responded to this challenge by introducing what they have called ‘transition design’ into the curricula at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels (Irwin 2015) which “takes as its central premise the need for societal transitions to more sustainable futures and argues that design has a key role to play in these transitions” (Irwin et al. 2015b: 1).O desafio central da era atual é a transição para a sustentabilidade. Essa transição deve ser definida nos termos mais amplos possíveis. É um projeto político, social, econômico, cultural, científico e tecnológico: todas as dimensões dos assuntos humanos são desafiadas pela necessidade de transição e, como várias questões atingem pontos críticos (mudança climática, desigualdade, esgotamento de recursos, perda de biodiversidade, etc.) aumenta a urgência com que isso deve acontecer. A Escola de Design da Universidade Carnegie Mellon respondeu a esse desafio introduzindo o que chamou de “Design para Transição” nos currículos dos níveis de graduação, pós-graduação e doutorado (Irwin 2015) e que “leva como premissa central a necessidade de transições sociais em direção a futuros mais sustentáveis e argumenta que o design tem um papel fundamental a desempenhar nessas transições ”(Irwin et al. 2015b: 1)

The potential of painting: unlocking Disenfranchised Grief for people living with dementia

As part of the “Creative Well” programme at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHN) North Wales, artist/researchers Megan Wyatt and Susan Liggett qualitatively investigated how painting can access a means of communication for people living with Dementia. In a workshop setting within a gallery environment at Ruthin Crafts Centre, participants living with dementia were facilitated on a one to one basis the opportunity to paint alongside the artist/researchers. The participants were from a wellestablished art group called “Lost in Art” that is managed by Denbighshire Arts Service. During the workshops, a number of experiences were articulated. These included experiences of illness, crisis and loss. They were captured through observations, interviews, visual art and video to contribute to new understandings and models of engagement through art for people living with dementia and their carers. Focusing on theory and practice in arts based research and the social sciences, this paper investigates the potential of painting to unlock experiences such as disenfranchised grief for people living with dementia. The conclusions do not measure how and if participants felt disenfranchised grief but rather provide an alternative to augment the body of knowledge surrounding how people living with dementia can communicate feelings of disenfranchised grief through painting. Objective: In this presentation I aim to outline the main findings from the above paper that is to be published in an academic journal later in the year on Illness Crisis and Loss published by Sage