This event brings together Dr Rob Phillips, Senior Tutor in Design Products at the RCA and Anna Meroni, Professor of Design at the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano, to discuss ways designers can navigate and trigger societal change for the common good and public interest.
There is a lot of contemporary ‘noise’ surrounding the impacts of design on ‘society’ and we often think enough is enough. In parallel, there are discourses concerning collaboration and participation in order to design more sustainable societies and environments.
Sometimes we dismiss them as disposable buzzwords.
Finally there is extensive contemporary emphasis on ‘designers’ capabilities of ‘commoning’ and providing agency for the public.
For precisely these reasons, this is a positive time to reflect on how to navigate, as designers, to trigger societal change for the common good and public interest. After all, we are recognised as having a power: to conjure and embody preferable futures.
Can we dream about acting for sustainability and societal change?
Can we inspire, catalyse or support in people a sense of agency towards ‘others’, providing for post human and non-human assets?
Leading to proactively questioning, how we should implement… Do Nothing For Us Without Us…?