Linked Impact: Making Connections
📢 Pleased to be at the United Nations head offices during last week's #ClimateActionWeek reflecting on our mutually dependent systems and connected impact. #UNSDG’s
✨Insight revealed the need to develop a culture of belonging and care across our environments (places & spaces), businesses, policies and education. It showcased the importance of cross-discipline, hybrid mindsets in responding to current challenges and planning for future needs. It highlighted that designing for belonging matters not just in how we experience our physical and digital places/spaces through designable interactions but also in how we create enabling environments across policies and business systems to set inclusive outcomes reflective of our current challenges and long-term aims.
✨Importantly it showcased that #ClimateAction is inclusive of social, economic, cultural and environmental impact and understanding this is integral in making connections across key areas that share relevance for governments, businesses and third sectors.
✨As a linked recap - Examples of how to achieve this in practice were discussed during last months #LFA2024 event across the need for:
💥Value-based Mindsets - Inclusive understanding of what is valuable
💥Systems & Levers - systems thinking to understand competing priorities
💥Multi-cultural conscious design - As reflective of today's societies
💥Needs Centric Community approaches - Lived Experience
Short extract from the discussion blog: ‘The conversation opened into discussion on design asking, can we design in a way that allows for different relationships towards space to manifest? Designing for the well-being of the community and the land beyond just the house, considering how best to facilitate space for life, for the elements that make for healthy living.
The need to begin from a place of care and humility was highlighted where there is much yet left to learn around what it means to care for the commons and understand that land is a common and the idea of land ownership is designed and therefore able to be re-designed. To also note that there is something that is specific to our cities which have taken us away from the natural world in such a deep way. Where there was closeness to the land, there was also care for the land and an awareness of the impact of humans on it. This led to the conversation on value where those who remain connected to land and nature, having experienced its degradation may then consciously design, differently and with varying considerations on what is most valuable. Therefore understanding value was an important point raised.
Working with communities who have been disempowered for so long and leading with community interest stories in setting outcomes was suggested. As was understanding climate risk as an important enabler of what needs to be valued such as in riverside developments – there is now an acceptance that nature-based mitigation strategies are needed. The control of the market and the reliance on low costs, GDP centred indicators based around a vision of growth was discussed as potential barriers. Is this vision so powerful or is it a matter of awakening?
Terminologies and buzz words were discussed such as ‘Human centred design’ and what that may leave out i.e. design for all life in an eco-system. The ongoing feelings of disempowerment felt by designers was mentioned with many undertaking further education in systems thinking for the age of transition to try and understand where the challenges lie and how to re-design them. The role of the architect and their agency was noted where if we are truly moving towards a community driven relationship to land and the built environment then it needs to be less hierarchical and more humility oriented. In which case, the role for the architect needs to shift which was considered exciting. The future then doesn’t mean that the skills necessarily change and the architectural tools or planning/designing built on spatial analysis remain important, what changes is how those tools are used to facilitate design needs.’
For those interested check out the full blog by Shared Ground - London & Slides here .
#LCAW2024 #inclusion #designforbelonging #businessimpact #mindsets #systems #services #places #spaces #finance
