Video of process and final prototype:
Author: Vigdis Teigen
Interaction Design
#15 Prototyping
TOPIC IS CHOSEN: urban planning
Introduction and background
The project went in the direction of urban gardening and creating good city spaces for people. I have been very inspired by Jan Gehl, the danish architect behind the “human friendly cities” movement and the urban strategy company Gehl. They work with relationships between people, their communities, and the broader systems that sustain the planet.
The key difference between standard of living and quality of life, as I see it, is that standard of living comes down to the money we have and how we spend it, whereas quality of life is about the time we have and how we spend it. One is more about quantity, the other is more about quality
Gehl 2019
David Sim, the creative director at Gehl, wrote an article about the Soft City, of how to design the physical environment of our cities and towns, neighbourhoods, and streets to give us more time for the things that give us meaning (Gehl 2019). They emphasis that the “time left” in your day, should be spent doing something meaningful and not commuting, or running stressful errands far away from where you live. Their take on the problem is to design urban spaces that gives you closer proximity to the places we visit on a daily basis like school, work, shops, parks, and freetime activities.
Ideation
When in the universe of urban planning, I wanted to do something that could contribute to solving more than one problem. What if I tried to design a space in the city that could do this?
From research, I found that green areas do good for people and the environment. Therefore, I went into the universe of urban gardening. Also that co-locating everyday activities into one place in close proximity to home would give better lives as you would spend less time in transit. A necessity for these spaces is also that it can bring enjoyment and fulfilment, for example by making a practical task like getting to work more pleasantly by biking through a park (Gehl 2019). So how to give peoples lives more meaning through urban spaces?
The idea came down to create a space between the houses, that could function as a place to rest, to meet with your neighbours or friends, and to give you the opportunity to work on a garden. These assets I thought to be a good combination, and something that both can boost an individuals life, but also boost the community in the neighbourhood.
An inspiration for vegetable garden is a garden association in Trondheim (see picture below), by study town in Norway, where you can sign up and join gardening in the middle of the city. When a member, you both contribute, but also get to enjoy the benefits and the produce.
Local vegetable garden, Markedshager Norge
Other inspiration is “Grow more”, a modular urban gardening set that accommodates a hangout area:
Grow more, by Sine Lindholm
What I want to include is:
- seating area to hang out
- something green, either vegetable garden or also just bushes or trees
- modularity, self planning system?
Should be:
- inviting
- intuitive
- aesthetically pleasing
Ideation prosess shown through pictures
I am very glad I chose paper when prototyping the modules. The end result worked perfectly fine for visualising the idea, even though each one of them where very lo-fi and not perfect.
The idea
The final idea is a modular set of seating area, plant boxes, tool crates, work benches and everything else needed for the urban gardening space. In the first round, I want to make a toolkit for planning and envisioning the space – for anyone who would like to implement this. In the future, I would like to make real size modules and try them out in an actual city context.
For the first prototype, the modules consist of a set of paper boxes in different shapes that represent different assets for the urban space. They can be assembled in different ways to quickly and easy test different setups for the space. The vision is that the act of planning and putting together the modules is a perfect activity for a neighbourhood community – for them to co-design, work together and therefore gain more relation and responsibility of the area (and each other!).
Using found objects/trash
For the second prototype, I really wanted to use real life things, but especially found things. My vision was that with different textures, colours and actual plants, the idea of the modules could become more real. Therefore, I went down in the backyard of my apartment and gathered everything I could find from sticks, plants and trash. I found this part of the process especially fun, since I have a profound love for miniature things and figures. Like, I LOVE lego and small model worlds – I think I need to get myself a terrarium because THE SMALL PLANTS? Love it.
Final prototype
This is the final visualisation of how the blocks can be used with more context and details added. In this way, it is easier to envision how the final, real world space would look like.
For the process video, see the next blog post.
Sources:
Gehl, Jan & Sim, David. 2019. Soft City: Building Density for Everyday Life. Island Press. Excerpt published at: https://www.gehlpeople.com/knowledge-hub/publications/soft-city-the-time-of-your-life
Lindholm, Sine. https://www.sinelindholm.com/new-page-3
Markedshager Norge. 2022. Trøndelag – Oppstartsprogram for markedshager i 2022/23. https://www.markedshage.no/kalender/2022/10/trondelag—oppstartsprogram-for-markedshager-i-202223/
#14 International Design Week
Between 12th and 16th of may we attended International Design Week. This was a week that students and professors from different universities met here in Graz and were invited to work with us on a range of different projects. We could choose between 13 different projects lead by 13 different professors. I chose to do the “Design and Culture” workshop with Moses Lugonvo from Uganda. This workshop was about unearthing unity in diversity through design expressions for cultural change. We were to use film as the chosen medium to convey this message, but had pretty free constraints.
The reason I chose to write about the design week, is that it brought a lot of new impressions, thoughts and inspirations. For me, I found it very exiting to work with film with others who was very good at it. I learned a lot, both about film-making, the art of reaching out to strangers, and cooperating with such a big group of people.
For the project, the group decided to collectively make a film about the different cultures you can find in Graz. The motive was to give an impression that the footage is form around the world, when we actually filmed shops with different cultural backgrounds located in Graz. We went out to Turkish kebab shops, Afghan, Nigerian and Indian grocery stores, and others – to talk to the people that worked there about culture.
From going out and trying to make strangers say yes to tell you their story, I learned a lot. It was very difficult to not get an immediate “no”. Then to communicate our project at idea, and also make them comfortable with being on camera. But in between all the hassle, some of the people we asked opened their arms and welcomed us in their stores. We were told stories, we got free drinks and foods, and got trusted by these strangers. It was a very cool experience.
A little teaser of the final film:
What I learned from this project, is how important and valuable it is to talk to people and hear their stories. I also found it very exiting to be working with talented people who knew how to make film (Noah), and to be part of such a cool project! What I also found out, is that 11 people on 1 filmproject, where we do not have definite roles is a lot of hassle. A lot of the time went to discussing and agreeing on ideas – also because only 1 of the 11 had worked properly with film before…
But in total I am very satisfied and have gained a lot I will take with me in my next projects.
#12 A lot of different ideas
This blogpost I wish to dedicate to all my ideas and all the directions I have thought about going. Since I have researched such a broad topic, I also have a broad list of ideas I would like to do.
Ceramic Plate
I really wanted to make a clay plate. For a long time, I have wanted to learn ceramics, and thought: maybe I can use this semester to learn this skill! I also found inspiration from a company from New Zealand who became really popular from their “Boring Platter” (see picture below)
The Boring Platter from Author Ceramics
Pros:
- I might learn a new skill
- This project moves into the community living world, where multiple people live together and where it may encourage people to share meals
Cons:
- difficult to get hold of a ceramic workshop and equipment
- expensive equipment
- does not make a lot of impact
Stackables
I have also thought about making stackable kitchenware or furniture. This can be stackable tables, chairs, beds, sofas or kitchenware like pots, plates and cups.
It is under the topic of finding new ways to live – with fewer items, in a smaller area, and with multiple people. It tries to tackle the problems of living small and with less – and how to make smart solutions for this. Another factor of these products would of course be that they are made of sustainable or reused materials. I find this very interesting, since I can see myself trying to live like this at some point in my life – and already see the necessity of these kind of products from having a camper. I also like working with my hands, and would love to get better known with different materials, and how to potensially upcycle or reuse something for a different purpose.
Public furniture to encourage interaction
Another way I see myself going is to focus on creating better urban lives. This can be done through welldesigned streets and areas between the houses. I was inspired from seeing a danish series called Byenes Mester, translated to The Master of Cities, featuring the danish architect Jan Gehl. He is one of the earliest architects to talk about planning cities for humans that encourage social interaction and well being, rather than cars and industry. Through the series, we see how his visions transformed some well known cities like Melbourne, New York and Oslo from empty, sad, grey cities into walkable and flourishing cities. I was very inspired by this series to contribute to making cities more human friendly. MaybeI I could do it through making furniture?
By creating an easy to use, accessible and perhaps multipurpose furniture, some urban areas might become a more inviting and better space. This can again increase the chance of someone interacting with each other if it is a stranger or a neighbour – and through this creating community (jippi!!)
A piece of furniture alone will of course not be able to transform a place, but seeing it as a part of a whole would be very interesting. I could also see myself trying to design whole areas, including positioning of the furniture, green areas, the intended flow of people in an existing urban area – so actually going into the world of architecture.
Material Tests
Since this topic is so big, I might try to narrow it down to something very small and tangible. Perhaps investigating what materials (to potentially use for these furnitures) do people like the most. Maybe conduct smell, touch and visual tests to find out what people would like to be surrounded by.
Urban Gardening
Another related topic is urban gardening. This is something I see very important, very useful and as a easy and tangible solution to a lot of problems. As for my self, I am very into gardening and see the values of doing so. I have also used a lot of time and energy to research topics such as urban green areas, biodiversity loss, the environmental crisis, and how green areas are good for peoples mental health – LIKE PLEASE JUST STICK YOUR HANDS IN THE DIRT PLEASE! Science says its good for you!!
The Rest
Now this post is getting very long so I will just list the other ideas/topics I believe in:
- Research the sociology/psychology aspect of what makes people interact with each other
- Create the ultimate community(!!!)
- and perhaps research what are the barriers for “normal” middle class people to live more community like
- Try to point out and transfer some of the co-living traits to modern urban living
- case study: what exists of community styles out there?
- TO GO EVEN BIGGER: try to join the “circular economics” movement – can I contribute here?
Thankyou.
WebExpo Conference
I chose to take notes from the two talks: “Creating an effective & beautiful data visualisation from scratch” with Nadieh Bremer, and “Survival kit for advertising jungle” with Kateřina Huňová & Vladimír Zikmund.
Creating an effective & beautiful data visualisation from scratch
Speaker: Nadieh Bremer
Information about the talk from the web expo page: During this talk, Nadieh will show you how to create a unique, effective, and (dare we say it) beautiful chart using d3.js, a leading tool for creating interactive data visualisations online. Without any slides and starting from an empty white browser window, she’ll take you through all the nuts and bolts that go into coding and creating a chart with d3, showing you how, with just a little bit of out-of-the-box thinking, you can use SVG in the weirdest ways to get what you had envisioned.
Nadieh Bremer is a data visualisation designer with a background in astronomy and data science. In her talk, she showed us from scratch how to program a datavisualisation set in an artsy way.
My notes from the talk:
- She chose live coding to show how easy it is to do it your self
- Making art from Data
- visualising important data to get it more out to people
- important to compare data to average data to show what is important
- the spikes in the data are the interesting factors
- Using D3 page for code paches in her code
- using svg
- She uses colours to show differences in the data
- what is below and under average
- makes it a gradient to make it interesting and pretty
- She uses labels for context, or else the visualisation does not make sense
- how she chose to show the data: dots
- d3 annotations
In the end of her talk, she presented her finalised data-visualisation. It was impressive to watch her make it so easily, and I now feel like I could actually so something similar myself. I think it is easy to be scared of trying to code something – since the programming universe seems so advanced. That is why I liked Nadieh´s approach so much, especially how chill she presented it as well.
Survival kit for advertising jungle
Speakers: Kateřina Huňová & Vladimír Zikmund
information about the talk from web expo site: Kateřina and Vladimír will share 10 practical tips on how to survive in the advertising jungle. With the growing complexity of marketing, it’s getting harder to navigate from brief to campaign goal and the risk of getting lost during the process is ever-growing. As they have lived in this jungle for the last 10 years, they have created the survival kit to help you reach your goals and get as effective and creative as possible.
Kateřina is an Executive Creative Director at the advertising agency Zaraguza, and Vladimír is the Creative Director at the agency Zaraguza.
Notes from the talk:
- It is easy to end up trying to do everything, ends up doing nothing
- Klarna: very absurd memorable ad – but 1 simple message (fish sliding down a childrens slide)
- good marketing
- The Ordinary: we only care about science not influencers – also clever ad
Here are Katerina´s and Vladimir´s takes about what to think about when doing commercials:
- integration: in one campaign you have concistency in every ad even though its different mediums
- about one campaign
- consistency is about long term
- business ethics
- consistent brands have +20% more
- Snickers “you are not you when you are hungry”
- concistent for many years
- fluent device ads -> use a maskot
- using a good guy
- gives humor, something cute
- or a dickhead (panda commercial)
- using a good guy
- duolingo maskot worked so well
- turned into memes
- got integrated into everything
- “Climb the tree for better perspective”
- get attention!
- jeep – painted p-space in stupid places
- birdhouses that sang incredible music pieces as ad for classical music shows
- How to hande the trend moments – short term wave
- brat summer is an example
- following trends does very little for your brand, exept for engagement
- if you do it, do it cheap, quick and funny
- Cooperate with indiginous people (people with status?)
- like Jeremy Allan White in Calvin Klein
- then a random, not so pretty guy
- does not work if you have no story or trustworthyness
- kendall jenner with pepsi
- like Jeremy Allan White in Calvin Klein
- Obstacles cant stop you
- thats where you find creativity
- knowing your brand
- Its when you meet obstacles you learn
- Remember to celebrate at the end!
This talk was interesting, first of all since I have never done anything like this. There were a lot of good tips, some of which I may be able to take with me – but i do think this commercial domain is not something I am particularily interested in, or something in which I would like to work in. Still, I will from now on have an extra eye for good commercials, and those worth judging.
#13 Which direction?
To come up with good ideas for a master thesis was a bit difficult for me. I found myself wanting to do everything and nothing at the same time. The previous researching I had done was about sustainable living, biodiversity loss, area neutrality, and all the problems and solutions regarding these.
Recently, I have gotten more and more into community living. This is still a huge topic under all the previous topics, but I found it to be very interesting, and something I believe can be part of the solution to the many problems we face. But what is community living? For me it encapsules a lot of different aspects:
- something that makes people interact more, which can create stronger bonds and love between people
- a way of living that lessens your footprint on this planet
- a way of living that fights the loneliness epidemic
- a way of living that provides help for the different life stages people go through
to mention some. I am also at the point where I am interested in trying this lifestyle myself – in one way or another. So perhaps this is the direction for me to go with my thesis as well.
A current thought provoker for me is a book I read called “All about love” by Bell Hooks. This book is a visionary essay about the topic of love. This book discusses the interconnectivity of race, class, and gender and their ability to produce and perpetuate systems of oppression and domination – and how these are the opposite of love. Even though the author often makes powerful, decisive statements that left little room open for argument, I agree on the notion that love can be a transformative power that heals individuals, communities, and even public policies and institutions if prioritized over greed. This realisation, left me with a desire to deep further into how to enable more love in this world.
By introducing lovelessness, as Bell Hooks called it, as the fundamental problem that humanity faces together today, I can steer my topic in the direction of working against it. Maybe even community living could be looked at as a solution for this, by creating a living space that fosters love and care for each other, help for your neighbours, and offers an escape from the world we are struggling in right now.
I see this post as my foundation for what ever direction I will go in. What is most important for me is to do something that actually can create change.
#11 Lofi Prototyping and Speed Dates
Introduction
At the start of the semester I was at a state where I was in desperate need of scoping down my project. And for this course we were to use prototyping as a tool to make our research project more tangible – perfect for me! So… how to make a prototype for my problem statement: “how to save the world”?
The Prototype
For Birgits speed date session, we were to create a lo-fi prototype of something random or something regarding our thesis. Since I did not know which of the 1000 problems regarding mye current topic to attack, I chose to prototype something random.
In my case, I wanted to make something physical that I could actually have use for. Something that would solve a very tangible problem. Thats why I prototyped a lampshade.
The Process
The problem I have, is that the lamp in my room is very, very bright, and very, very white. Nothing I did with this room could make it cozy – I always felt like I was sleeping in a hospital room. So how to make a quick and cheap solution to this?
My vision was to use something partly seethrough, with a warm colour, to cover the bright white lightbulb with. It could be fabric, paper or anything with these attributions. I found inspiration in chinese paper lanterns, which always gives a warm and cozy vibe.
My first prototype was made of a trashbag and tape, and was made in 2 minutes. This was to test functionality of the tightening mechanics.
I also tested the color and tightening mechanics of my sleeping mat bag. This worked surprisingly good!
Further on I made a prototype of regular paper and tape, to try and figure out a shape that could work but also look ok.
Then I finally made the final prototype, using thin silk paper, as the chinese lamps would have. This prototype ended up working pretty well, and looking decent.
The end product. Is still used on my big light until this very moment.
The Speed Dating
Through the speed dating session, we let our classmates test and review each others prototypes. From this, we were able to get a lot of feedback in a short period of time. Something I will take with me for my final thesis. Speed testing is a valuable tool, especially in the startfase, where you really just want to test the basics of your idea.
Even though I will not continue prototyping my lamp, I am happy for this experience, and hope to find my topic ASAP.
#10 A Summary
Throughout my research, I have explored the complexity of the climate and biodiversity crises, uncovering both their vast scope and the challenges in addressing them. These crises are deeply interconnected, involving a multitude of factors such as land use, policy decisions, economic structures, and environmental conservation efforts. Understanding this complexity has been essential in identifying viable solutions. Given the broad nature of the problem, I needed a structured approach to navigate my inquiry, which led me to adopt a design-oriented perspective. By framing my research through the lens of design solutions, I had something to navigate by throughout the process.
I began by examining the role of major international organisations such as the United Nations, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). These institutions play a critical role in shaping global responses to environmental challenges, setting policy frameworks, and guiding conservation efforts. However, despite their influence, many of the strategies implemented at the international level struggle with enforcement and accountability, often relying on voluntary commitments from nations and industries and a lot of financial support. This highlighted the need for systemic changes that go beyond policy declarations and focus on tangible, enforceable actions.
A significant focus of my research has been the political dimensions of the climate and biodiversity crises. While various policies have been enacted to curb environmental degradation, gaps remain in implementation, enforcement, and long-term commitment. Many policies prioritise economic growth over ecological stability, leading to continued environmental harm. The issue of land use exemplifies this challenge. Land-use change is currently the greatest driver of biodiversity loss, yet responsibility for managing and protecting nature is often diffuse and difficult to assign. This lack of clear accountability makes it difficult to implement lasting solutions, as economic and infrastructural interests frequently take precedence over conservation.
In seeking potential solutions, I explored alternative approaches such as the permaculture movement and regenerative agriculture. Both emphasize sustainable land management practices that restore ecosystems rather than deplete them. Permaculture focuses on designing agricultural and social systems that work in harmony with nature, while regenerative agriculture seeks to improve soil health, increase biodiversity, and create resilient farming practices. These methods demonstrate the potential for human activities to coexist with and even enhance natural systems. However, while promising, they require widespread adoption, supportive policies, and systemic shifts in agricultural practices to have a large-scale impact.
One of the most intriguing topics I have explored is speculative design and future-thinking as a means of addressing environmental challenges.
Large societal transformations are only possible if humanity gets better at imagining and envisioning positive futures
(Corc, et. al., 2023)
Unlike conventional solutions that react to existing problems, speculative design allows for the exploration of potential futures, considering how societies might evolve in response to climate change and biodiversity loss. Future-thinking integrates interdisciplinary knowledge, systems thinking, and design methodologies to anticipate long-term outcomes and create visionary solutions.
Future-thinking offers several advantages in tackling environmental crises. First, it enables proactive rather than reactive decision-making, allowing policymakers, designers, and communities to plan for multiple scenarios. Second, it encourages holistic solutions that consider ecological, social, and technological dimensions simultaneously. Finally, it fosters creativity and adaptability, which are crucial for addressing the unprecedented challenges posed by climate change and biodiversity loss.
Another factor that makes this method superior, is that scenario based future-thinking, can create such immersive and strong future-scenarios that can impact and appeal to the audience in a much stronger degree than other methods. An since value-change and understanding from the audience is what true transformation needs, it is a important factor to take into account.
In a TED Talk “Why We Need To Imagine Different Futures”, the CEO Anab Jain says (Superflux, 2009, 6:30):
One of the most powerful tools for driving change is allowing people to experience the future consequences of their actions today
Anab Jain, CEO of Superflux
From a design perspective, future-thinking is particularly compelling because it provides a framework through which I can contribute meaningfully. Rather than being confined to mitigating existing damage, I can use design to imagine and construct sustainable futures. This might involve creating resilient urban environments that incorporate nature, developing innovative materials and technologies that reduce environmental impact, or designing policies and infrastructures that prioritize ecological health. By merging speculative design with real-world applications, future-thinking allows for the integration of visionary ideas with practical implementation.
As I conclude this phase of my research, I recognise that future-thinking is the most promising and encompassing solution I have encountered. It not only addresses the immediate and long-term challenges of climate and biodiversity crises but also provides a structured, design-oriented methodology that aligns with my expertise. However, this realisation is only the beginning. Moving forward, I intend to dive deeper into the field of future-thinking, exploring its applications in environmental policy, urban planning, and ecological restoration. By continuing this research, I hope to contribute to the development of innovative strategies that bridge the gap between imagination and action, ultimately shaping a future where nature and human progress coexist harmoniously.
Sources:
Cork, S., Alexandra, C., Alvarez-Romero, J.G., Bennet, E.M., Berbés-Blásquez, M., Bohensky, E., Bok, B., Constanza, R., Hashimoto, S., Hill, R., Inayatullah, S., Kok, K., Kuiper, J.J., Moglia, M., Pereira, L., Peterson, G., Weeks, R. & Wyborn, C. (2023). Exploring Alternative Futures in the Anthropocene. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 48, 25-54. Swinburne University of Technology. Retrieved from https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-environ-112321-095011
Superflux. (2017, 19. juni). TED Talk: Why We Need To Imagine Different Futures [Video] Superflux. Retrieved from https://superflux.in/index.php/ted-2017-the-future-you/#
#09 Using future visions to change the world
Before I begin, soundtrack of this post: I´d love to change the world – Ten Years After
Now that I have researched a whole lot of different aspects of the interconnected nature- and climate crisis, I need to look deeper what some of the solutions can be. What are the most efficient ways to create real change? And in this context? Understanding and imagining solutions for societal-scale decision-making is a complex challenge, often called a wicked problem. This complexity arises from the diverse ways people perceive the issues and the uncertainty of decision outcomes. It is also difficult to bring people together at the right scale to reach a shared understanding. Trying to find the answer to this, I have come across Speculative Design and Future Thinking– something that may show it self to be the tools I (/we) need.
Speculative Design explores future possibilities and societal impacts of emerging technology and shifting cultural and social trends, diverging from traditional design to provoke new thought, debate, directions, preferences, and strategy (Neeley, 2024).
Futures-thinking is a diverse scholarship and practice, drawing on multiple disciplines across the sciences, arts, and humanities, that explore the nature of change, how humans conceive of futures, the range of possible (not just probable) futures, and how alternative futures might emerge (Corc, et. al., 2023).
Anthropocene refers to the period since the 1950s, which has seen exponential increases in human impacts on global ecological systems, with implications for the nature and quality of life, across all societies (Corc, et. al., 2023).
Speculative design is an approach that explores possible futures by using design as a tool to imagine and provoke thought about what could be. Unlike traditional design, which focuses on solving existing problems, speculative design pushes boundaries by addressing “what if” scenarios. It challenges assumptions and opens up discussions about potential futures. Speculative design often combines elements of storytelling, critical thinking, and visual representation to create thought-provoking and immersive artifacts, experiences, or scenarios.
The article Exploring Alternative Futures in the Anthropocene on future-thinking was published by a group of scientist by the Swinburne University of Technology about “[…] cognitive, cultural, and institutional constraints on the societal uptake of futures-thinking” (Corc, et. al., 2023). The authors´ objective was to “[…] help newcomers to futures-thinking make sense of what has been happening in scholarship and practice and to encourage existing participants to reflect on past and recent developments”. Therefore, this article is the perfect way into the topic of speculative design.
These scientists, claim that the two critical requirements for transformative change are:
- The cognitive and/or institutional capabilities for understanding and acknowledging humanity’s current predicament (i.e., the relationship between people and the planet).
- The capabilities to imagine new futures—ones involving possibilities not encountered before—and the possible pathways toward achieving them
They also argue that these requirements are especially poorly developed across humanity, and are therefore also the key vulnerabilities of our era.
The scientists summed up their article into 4 important takes:
- To achieve the transformations required to address Anthropocene challenges, societies need opportunities that bring a diversity of knowledge and perceptions together to seek shared understandings of current situations and to imagine what alternative futures might be possible, including radical ones never before imagined.
- Incremental adjustment within current paradigms and systems is no longer an option that will allow humanity to survive the Anthropocene, let alone achieve sustainable futures with high levels of human well-being and harmonious coexistence with other species.
- Lessons from more than seven decades, especially the past two, suggest that the diverse knowledge and expertise embodied in theories, philosophies, approaches, and methods for futures-thinking offer models for achieving the above, although coupling futures-thinking with mainstream decision-making and governance remains a challenge.
- Many cognitive, cultural, and institutional constraints on broad societal uptake of futures-thinking exist, but none are insurmountable once understood (Corc, et. al., 2023).
Transformative change is required to meet many of the challenges of the Anthropocene. To make this change happen, people need to better understand the present situation, strengthen their ability to imagine and share hopeful futures, and explore different ways to reach those futures. That is why speculative design or future-thinking will play a crucial role in the great shift that is needed. It will help bridge the gap between scientific data and public engagement by presenting future scenarios in an accessible and emotionally resonant way. Through these methods, we can imagine resilient cities, regenerative agriculture systems, and circular economies that prioritise ecological balance – and maybe start to believe that change is possible.
By using speculative design as a tool, I can challenge existing paradigms in the pursuit of environmental sustainability. Ultimately, speculative design is not just about imagining futures—it is about shaping them, and as a designer, this may be one of the most impactful contributions I can make to addressing the climate and nature crisis.
Sources:
Cork, S., Alexandra, C., Alvarez-Romero, J.G., Bennet, E.M., Berbés-Blásquez, M., Bohensky, E., Bok, B., Constanza, R., Hashimoto, S., Hill, R., Inayatullah, S., Kok, K., Kuiper, J.J., Moglia, M., Pereira, L., Peterson, G., Weeks, R. & Wyborn, C. (2023). Exploring Alternative Futures in the Anthropocene. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 48, 25-54. Swinburne University of Technology. Retrieved from https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-environ-112321-095011
Neeley, J. Paul. (2024, 19th of June). What is Speculative Design? School of Critical Design. Retrieved from https://www.critical.design/post/what-is-speculative-design
#08 Regenerative Agriculture
Regenerative agriculture is farming and ranching in harmony with nature. It is a holistic agriculture method that means to restore soil and ecosystem health, address inequity, and leave our land, waters, and climate in better shape for the future.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) describes how our food system today “[…] contributes to approximately 25% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, three-quarters of biodiversity loss and is a leading cause of non-communicable disease” (WBCSD, n.d.). They also say that regenerative farming is the way to sustain and enhance the farm ecosystem, in contrary to exhausting it.
The World Economic Forum writes that the rising global population is placing increasing pressure on traditional agricultural systems, which often rely on expanding farmland and using more chemical inputs to boost production – further intensifying the strain on biodiversity. To address this challenge, it is essential to shift from conventional farming methods to a regenerative approach that prioritises and enhances biodiversity. They explain how regenerative agriculture can help:
- Regenerative agriculture is the way forward to decarbonise the food system and make farming resilient to climate shocks.
- It won’t happen unless we succeed in making it commercially attractive for the farmers.
- Farmers must be prioritised as key players in our fight against climate change. (World Economic Forum, 2023)
They also explain that the exact upscaling needed to sufficiently limit climate change is to farm regenerative on 40% of the world’s cropland, which would save around 600 million tons of emissions. But in order to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees, it must be scaled faster, and move from covering around 15 % of global cropland today to 40 % by 2030 (World Economic Forum, 2023).
The World Economic Forum lists 5 benefits from regenerative farming:
1. Climate. It helps mitigate emissions such as through carbon sequestration and improved crop resilience for climate shocks.
2. Soil Health. It improves soil fertility through increased biomass production, thereby preventing soil degradation.
3. Resource use efficiency. Higher nutrient use efficiency (NUE) increases crop yield and optimizes land use efficiency, while improved water use efficiency reduces the stress on freshwater reserves.
4. Biodiversity. More diverse rotation and reduced pesticide usage supports biodiversity on farms while, in some cases, higher crop yields mean more natural habitats can be protected rather than cleared for agriculture.
5. Prosperity. Regenerative agriculture improves long-term farmer livelihood through reduced costs, improved crop yield and crop quality, and greater resilience to market volatility and extreme climate events. It also opens new green revenue streams for farmers, such as rewarding them for carbon capture and storage in the soil.
These are some very attractive benefits that you would think made everyone push for regenerative practises. However, this is not the case. This is because the transitioning fase is very risky and could be costly, which is why it is this is the fase the World Economic Forum prioritises to tackle. They present 5 concrete routes to reach scale:
1. Agree on common metrics for environmental outcomes. Today, there are many disparate efforts to define and measure environmental outcomes. We must move to a set of metrics adopted by the whole food industry, making it easier for farmers to adjust their practices and for positive changes to be rewarded.
2. Build farmers’ income from environmental outcomes such as carbon reduction and removal. We need a well-functioning market with a credible system of payments for environmental outcomes, trusted by buyers and sellers, that creates a new, durable, income stream for farmers.
3. Create mechanisms to share the cost of transition with farmers. Today, all the risk and cost sits with the farmers. It is impossible to achieve systems transformation without sharing the burden and benefits through the value chain.
4. Ensure government policy enables and rewards farmers for transition. Too many government policies are in fact supporting the status quo of farming. That has led us to a broken food system. The food sector must come together and work jointly with regulators to address this.
5. Develop new sourcing models to spread the cost of transition. We must move from sourcing models that take crops from anywhere to models that involve collaboration between off-takers from different sectors to take crops from areas converting to regenerative farming.
(World Economic Forum, 2023).
The solution to both the climate emergency and the food crisis is in the soil, quite literally
To make regenerative farming relevant for my research, I need to look at how design can be implemented. Design can play a crucial role in supporting the transition to regenerative agriculture by raising awareness, or developing innovative tools. Thoughtfully designed educational campaigns, user-friendly digital platforms for tracking environmental outcomes, and collaborative design strategies for farm operations can help farmers adopt sustainable practices with greater confidence.
Sources:
NRDC. (2021, 29th of November). Regenerative Agriculture 101. NRDC. Retrieved from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/regenerative-agriculture-101
WBCSD. (n.d.). Agriculture and Food. Retrieved from https://www.wbcsd.org/actions/agriculture-and-food/
World Economic Forum. (2023, 11th of January). 5 benefits of regenerative agriculture – and 5 ways to scale it. Wold Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/01/5-ways-to-scale-regenerative-agriculture-davos23