MA Regenerative Design

In the context of a fast-accelerating climate and biodiversity emergency, sustainable design is not enough (Wahl). Over the past few decades, the integration of environmental considerations in the design process has focused on strategies such as more efficient use of natural resources (i.e. zero waste design) or the reduction of our environmental impact (i.e. using less toxic materials, carbon-neutral design).

Regenerative Design goes beyond sustainability and actively contributes to restore and replenish what human activities have radically deteriorated. From intensive agriculture, to expanding mega cities, energy production, design and manufacture, global economics and finance systems, the majority of human endeavours manifests a worldview in which the natural world is understood as a resource to be exploited. Designers materialise their creative vision by specifying and orchestrating transformative processes and materials which, renewables or not come from Earth. As such they carry a large responsibility when it comes to climate and biodiversity impact. With a fast-expanding human population, one million species at risk of extinction, and a looming global climate shift, we need to transition towards a new culture of repair. Regenerative Design is a rising discipline that incorporates principles of deep ecology and living system thinking (Naess, Capra, Reed), regenerative cultures (Wahl), circular design (Webster, Ellen MacArthur Foundation), autonomous design (Escobar) and a fundamental understanding of planetary health to develop new creative propositions that can help restore our biodiversity, climate and empower communities through design. Instead of perpetuating an anthropocentric mindset which leads to the depletion of our underlying life-support systems, regenerative design goes beyond sustainable and circular design principles to actively promote a multi-species approach where human and non-human species co-habit holistically.

This course proposes to engage with an online community of designers who will be studying from their local contexts to develop an action research project in regenerative design and actively contribute to holistically restore their local biosphere taking into account endemic cultures, indigenous voices and socio-cultural tenets as appropriate. Students will come from a range of craft and design backgrounds (fashion, textiles, product, social, service, architecture, craft...) and will learn how to revisit their respective creative practice via a regenerative lens whether they live in a rural or urban context.

Fundamentally the course aims to enable students to adopt living systems principles for the development of holistic and regenerative design proposals.

Design questions addressed through the teaching and curriculum content include:

• How can design participate as nature (Wahl, Naess)? How does multi-species thinking manifest in design? How do we design products, services or systems for a more-than-human world? 
• How do we translate permaculture principles into life-enhancing design proposals at the service of planetary health? 
• How do we design to restore our biodiversity and climate whilst empowering local communities and protecting endangered crafts?  
• How do we integrate and respect indigenous knowledge and ways of life in the design agenda? 
• Can regenerative design be a pivotal agent of change for an interconnected decarbonisation, decolonisation and de-extinction agenda?   
• What can design learn from cultural anthropology and indigenous knowledges to adopt new locally and culturally-specific regenerative models across creative disciplines.