“A new area of design research, practice and study that proposes design-led societal transition toward more sustainable futures” (Article Link)
‘Cosmopolitan localism’ (Manzini 2009), working place-based and local but with global awareness and global exchange of information and technology.
Draws from indigenous communities who managed sustainably designed ways for living for generations and have a “symbiotic relationship with the natural environment”.
Influenced by a wide range of disciplines: philosophy; anthropology; science; humanities; psychology.
Must understand ‘theories of change’, how change is catalysed and how it manifests. Draw theory from “academia, non-profit and community sectors”.
‘Phase transition’ is what we expect designing within complex systems, “social and natural systems that are dynamic, non-linear, self-organizing and interdependent”. This can cause sudden and unexpected changes in other areas of the system, leading to new behaviour.
Everyday life, lifestyles and behaviours should be the focus and beginnings of transition design projects. Observational science and ethnography included.
“Post normal Science is a method of inquiry for addressing long-term issues when relatively little information is available, facts are uncertain, values are in dispute and urgent decisions and outcomes are critical (Ravetz 2007)”.
A holistic worldview is is essential for transition.
Speculative design: “circular, iterative and error-friendly process used to envision radically new ideas for the future that serve to inform even small, modest solutions in the present”.
We need to be able to present possible futures so they can be understood and assessed by all stakeholders/social actors, and democratically discussed to choose what is desirable. Designers must therefore be able to create clear and reasoned visions of these futures.
All design is political and manifests the designers views in some form, therefore the mindset of designers must also be transformed.
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