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Reimagining institutional design internship programs to foster Indigenous-led and community-based learning and teaching
No full textAcross many universities in Australia, design schools are exploring new ways to integrate Indigenous knowledges, from specific course curricula to institution-wide policies. This paper examines the developmental stages of a small-scale pro-ject to support Indigenous students already enrolled across creative programs, who may be interested in learning design skills, tools, and career pathways. Spe-cifically, we explore how a cultural and relational internship model might sup-port student learning, through partnering with an Indigenous-led design agency, to develop expertise in commercial illustration. We draw on decolonising and pluriversal design literature, while learning from Australian Indigenous design scholars who offer a counternarrative to universal design education and model ways for different knowledge systems to come together. Here, we reimagine the ‘work’ in work-integrated learning, to develop a more relational and culturally integrated experience. Our aim is to develop an internship model that can move design education outside of the institution, to enable culturally-led and commu-nity-based learning
Designing Sound for Public Spaces Through a Research-Creation Collaboration Framework
No full textWhen designing a sound installation in public spaces, creators consider a wide range of factors related to the site where it will be deployed as part of the artistic statement. However, anticipating the impact of the sound installation on user experience is difficult in the absence of established methods to inform the design and evaluate the outcomes. Based on three case studies involving sound artists and soundscape researchers, we propose a research-creation collaboration framework through four stages: 1) field recordings of pre-existing sound environments; 2) diagnosis of pre-existing sound environments and public space usage; 3) sound installation prototyping in laboratory settings; 4) evaluation after deployment. These stages, alone or in combination, can systematically inform – or eventually drive – the design and evaluation of new sound installations in public spaces
Designing from the plants\u27 perspective. A field case study in urban forest of “La Goccia”
No full textDesigning by engaging more-than-human agents such as plants is a complex chal-lenge, as they have long been regarded as ontologically inferior resources pri-marily serving human needs. Emerging studies in the field of Plant Neurobiology are now breaking down knowledge barriers, gathering extraordinary data that recognize plant actions and behaviors guided by a distinct form of intelligence. Considering this breakthrough findings, this paper describes a 10-day workshop involving 52 international design students from Politecnico di Milano University that focused on experiencing plants in a former industrial area within the city borders. Through the years, this area has gone from desolation to a vibrant urban forest where plants and other life forms have flourished without human re-striction. With the contribution of botanists and local forest experts, the work-shop was conceived as a journey with the ambition of providing participants with an opportunity to design for plants as active stakeholders
Empowerment of people with disabilities through collaborative making: Exploring user involvement in designing and adapting assistive products
No full textThis study investigates the extent of the empowering effects of making and collective production activities on people with disabilities and the assistive products they use. The universal and participatory design approaches intend to empower people with disabilities, but how a person with a disability can be empowered, and the requirements for it are highly dependent on the individual and the context. The research utilizes the elements of The Empowerment Theory to assess the resulting empowerment of participants’ making-related experiences. Semi-structured interviews and participant observations were conducted to understand the role of making and collective production activities in enabling the participation of people with disabilities in designing, adapting, and making their own assistive products. Analyzing the disability-related making activities through the lens of a social empowerment theory allows this study to contribute to empowering people with disabilities by defining the current barriers on their participation and understanding the effect of making
The future of human reproduction: Exploring wicked problems through interdisciplinary speculative design practices
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Transforming food waste into natural pigments: Raising community school awareness of food waste recycling opportunities through co-design methods
No full textIn a world grappling with ongoing food scarcity, the issue of food waste in US school cafeterias remains a pressing concern, often without sufficient attention given to recycling. School communities play a pivotal role in shaping behaviors, as individuals are significantly influenced by their peers\u27 actions and opinions, making them more open to positive reinforcement. This research explores design opportunity to raise awareness and encourage food waste recycling behaviors through a co-design approach. Students are invited to participate in the interactive exhibitions, where they learn and provide feedback about the pigment-making process from food waste using a toolkit for art painting. Through sharing their experiences, students help spread awareness and foster a commitment to recycling behaviors among their peers. Engaging students as active participants in these activities shows promise as a strategy to increase awareness of food waste recycling opportunities and empower school communities to support circular food systems
