Hadas Zohar and Patricia Csobánczi
This paper introduces sensory literacy as a pedagogical approach for engaging with more-than-human perspectives in design education. Building on the concept of Umwelt—the species-specific perceptual world—it addresses the challenge that human designers are constrained by their own sensory and linguistic frameworks, limiting their capacity to understand and design for non-human beings. To respond to this gap, the paper presents a practice-led study of a one-day workshop aimed at cultivating students’ ability to recognise sensory differences and attune to more-than-human experiences.
The workshop combined conceptual, embodied, and material practices, including guided meditation, multispecies observation, speculative writing, and artefact-making. Through abductive analysis of collected data, the study identifies a developmental process consisting of three stages: perspectival displacement, embodied internalisation through making, and the emergence of relational and systemic awareness. Findings suggest that material translation plays a key role in deepening engagement, enabling participants to move from abstract understanding to experiential and reflective learning.
The paper argues that sensory literacy extends beyond noticing non-human worlds by fostering epistemic humility and ecological awareness. It contributes a structured yet flexible methodology for operationalising more-than-human perspectives in design pedagogy, while highlighting the importance of integrating discursive and non-verbal modes of learning.
Keywords: systemic design, more-than-human, umwelt, art-based methods, design pedagogy