LMA Design Summer School «Design Activism: interventions for eco-social challenges»
Brief description of the project
In June 2023, the Summer School "Design Activism: Interventions for Eco-Social Challenges" unfolded at the Design Department of the Art Academy of Latvia and Vidzeme Market. This immersive program aimed to equip design students with innovative and critical design methodologies crucial in confronting contemporary climate and biodiversity crises. Through a multidisciplinary approach, participants delved into developing interventions that creatively tackled eco-social urban challenges, transcending conventional human-centric perspectives.
Originality and creativity of the idea
As the existence and well-being of society depends on the health, diversity and sensitive resource management of environmental ecosystems, our design approach needs to be broader. To offer future professionals a more diverse view of the possibilities of design and the responsibility of the designer, participants at the LMA Design Summer School learned about multispecies systems thinking, multispecies design, eco-centric design approaches, prototyping, design activism and speculative design. The summer school resulted in five group projects, both as immediately implementable interventions and speculative solutions to help create a bio-diverse and socially sustainable environment in the Vidzeme market.
Definition of the problem and the relevance of the applied solutions
In the face of the climate and bio-diversity crisis, there is a rapid need to integrate new design methods and approaches into education and the professional design environment, and to foster interdisciplinary collaboration. One of the design school's missions was to introduce critical approaches to multidisciplinary design students at an early stage of their education, fostering an interest in sustainable urban and societal futures, while building confidence in the designer's ability to be a change-maker and visionary. The methodology used helped to address urban sustainability issues at different levels - from building and strengthening environmental ecosystems, to caring for the well-being of citizens, sustainable habits and harmonious coexistence with nature.
Co-creation, stakeholder involvement and cooperation during the realisation process
The Design Summer School is based on multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration. The school brings together design students from three different disciplines, as well as other project stakeholders: the Art Academy of Latvia, RPAD, Riga House, an urban ecologist, design researchers from Latvia, as well as from the universities of Aalto and South Denmark. The school provides both a co-creation process and international networking and information exchange. Together with the urban ecologist, stakeholders beyond the human-centric approach were identified: environmental ecosystems, animals and plants that can find habitats and nutrients in urban contexts, and their needs for sustainable existence, which were addressed in group projects.
Functionality and technological solutions
The functionality and technological solution of the Design Summer School can be evaluated in two categories: as a school programme and as the work of student groups. The programme offers a carefully developed methodology over two weeks, which includes various classes, excursions, lectures, and workshops that ensure the learning of theoretical material in a practical research and creation-oriented way. Starting with a multi-species empathy-building workshop that engages students in a multi-sensory learning process to carefully facilitated group projects. The students' work was developed as multi-functional ideas for interventions that take into account environmental ecosystems and human well-being, and despite their speculative nature, could be put into practice.
Aesthetics and other experiential dimensions
All projects developed by student groups incorporate aesthetics and other qualities of sensory experience. The projects include a multi-species climbing wall "Heights of Harmony" and an insect movement infrastructure "Insect Bridges" to create a more harmonious, aesthetic and visually greener Vidzeme market environment. "Empatio, a café for pigeons and people, stood out for its unique open-plan interior aesthetic. "Compostenis", the service of the compost reward system and its communication materials were designed in a friendly, playful and vital way, increasing the user's pleasure to get involved. "The 'Mushroom Music' pavilion provided a multi-sensory visitor experience: offering a musical experience in a visually spectacular mushroom-themed pavilion.
Economic significance, sustainability and circularity
The Summer School provides a future-oriented application of design methods to address eco-social challenges, as well as the necessary multidisciplinary context. Innovative design methods, which are currently very topical in academic design and sustainability research, are learned and applied in the school to develop ideas for real interventions. All the solutions developed by the students have a high added value in the fields of environmental sustainability and circularity. The School's programme provides an investment in the education of its students and in the Latvian education system by establishing the application of sustainable education principles and methods. The school fosters a critical, interdisciplinary and activism-based perspective in the students, as well as an interest in developing a future design practice related to eco-social issues in urban spaces.
Social relevance, inclusion, availability and accessibility
The eco-centric design solutions also addressed essential human needs for well-being and took into account the wishes of local residents in relation to the Vidzeme market area. "Harmonija augstumi provided seating areas based on universal design principles. "Mushroom Music offered a unique musical experience that could help people with depression. "Compost" makes composting a more accessible and engaging practice, with a focus on youth audiences. "Empatio, which aims to build a more empathetic relationship between people and bio-diverse bird species in the city, bases its services on circularity principles, creating a bird droppings collection system complemented by the production of soil supplements. "Insect Bridges offers a worthwhile educational programme for residents and visitors.
