Comments on: legitimate causes http://designactivism.net/archives/223 reflections on the role of design as activism Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:20:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Ann Thorpe http://designactivism.net/archives/223#comment-2182 Ann Thorpe Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:05:26 +0000 http://designactivism.net/archives/223#comment-2182 Hi Ksenija, Thanks for your comments. The example you mention regarding school lunches is an interesting one because it is so thorny, related to health, the environment, academic achievement, income group differences and so forth. I think it epitomizes the challenges of contemporary causes which are very difficult to "sound bite" in terms of both stating the problems and the solutions. But I agree there is a big role for design, however you frame it. -Ann Hi Ksenija,
Thanks for your comments. The example you mention regarding school lunches is an interesting one because it is so thorny, related to health, the environment, academic achievement, income group differences and so forth. I think it epitomizes the challenges of contemporary causes which are very difficult to “sound bite” in terms of both stating the problems and the solutions. But I agree there is a big role for design, however you frame it.
-Ann

]]> By: Ksenija Kuzmina http://designactivism.net/archives/223#comment-2074 Ksenija Kuzmina Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:39:23 +0000 http://designactivism.net/archives/223#comment-2074 Dear Anne, I wanted to say thank you for your blog, and to note that another area where designers have potentially a great role to play is education, though at the moment it is very patchy and usually is on a volunteer bases. The OpenDoors Kingston project http://ecoideaz.wordpress.com/ that I initiated during MA Design for Development course (thank you so much for your presence at our event!) continues to evolve. Last week I presented it at Sustainable Schools Conference Kingston, where with regards to consumption and waste a topic on school lunches was discussed. An issue that food in a lot of cafeterias is such a poor quality that children choose to bring their own packed lunches, which results in a lot of wasted food and school bins fool of plastic/paper packaging. A call to be creative in how to approach this and other problems of sustainable schools seems to indicate that there is plenty of space for designers to apply their talents. Best wishes, Ksenija Dear Anne,
I wanted to say thank you for your blog, and to note that another area where designers have potentially a great role to play is education, though at the moment it is very patchy and usually is on a volunteer bases. The OpenDoors Kingston project http://ecoideaz.wordpress.com/ that I initiated during MA Design for Development course (thank you so much for your presence at our event!) continues to evolve. Last week I presented it at Sustainable Schools Conference Kingston, where with regards to consumption and waste a topic on school lunches was discussed. An issue that food in a lot of cafeterias is such a poor quality that children choose to bring their own packed lunches, which results in a lot of wasted food and school bins fool of plastic/paper packaging. A call to be creative in how to approach this and other problems of sustainable schools seems to indicate that there is plenty of space for designers to apply their talents. Best wishes, Ksenija

]]> By: Ann Thorpe http://designactivism.net/archives/223#comment-2065 Ann Thorpe Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:52:52 +0000 http://designactivism.net/archives/223#comment-2065 Jody, thanks for your comment. I'm a big fan of the Prosperity Without Growth report (note that Tim Jackson will be speaking about it in London on 4th March at the Quaker Centre) and agree with your assessment about its significance. -Ann Jody, thanks for your comment. I’m a big fan of the Prosperity Without Growth report (note that Tim Jackson will be speaking about it in London on 4th March at the Quaker Centre) and agree with your assessment about its significance.
-Ann

]]> By: Jody http://designactivism.net/archives/223#comment-2015 Jody Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:55:05 +0000 http://designactivism.net/archives/223#comment-2015 Hi Ann, Perhaps the best place to start is the Sustainable Development Commission's recent report 'Prosperity Without Growth'. The report demonstrates that an economic system dependent on growth is fundamentally unsustainable. While similar arguments have been made by ecological economists for decades, this report by a government agency is significant. The design community could help. The issues need to be trashed out in the public arena. EcoLabs is looking for graphic / information designers to help us do this for our next issues of EcoMag which will focus on ecological economics. We have recently posted a call for submissions: http://eco-labs.org/dev/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=191:ecomag-no2-&catid=1:latest&Itemid=82 Hi Ann, Perhaps the best place to start is the Sustainable Development Commission’s recent report ‘Prosperity Without Growth’. The report demonstrates that an economic system dependent on growth is fundamentally unsustainable. While similar arguments have been made by ecological economists for decades, this report by a government agency is significant.

The design community could help. The issues need to be trashed out in the public arena. EcoLabs is looking for graphic / information designers to help us do this for our next issues of EcoMag which will focus on ecological economics. We have recently posted a call for submissions: http://eco-labs.org/dev/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=191:ecomag-no2-&catid=1:latest&Itemid=82

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