Maria F. Arias, Morgan Duta, Francine Groenewoud-Knüppe, and Jens Gijbels
Training designers to become navigators for systemic transitions
In a rapidly changing world, design has proven to be a resilient practice, constantly reinventing itself to embrace new challenges and opportunities. As the world continues to change, the need for widespread systemic transitions becomes more apparent. To facilitate these transitions, designers and their skillset prove to be key actors when navigating uncertainty.
Increasingly, designers are faced with more intricate challenges. Reducing food waste, for example, forces the designer to navigate within a complex context to identify how to design an impactful solution. This experience is then proved to be useful for navigating a rapidly changing world. Typically, the success of a design lies in the quality of the final outcome, not the navigation required to get there, which is why current education focuses on tools to demonstrate results instead of the navigation skills needed for a complex challenge. This presents a crucial gap in the education of future designers who will need to have the ability to lead transitions and guide the design process towards impact, which can take many different outcomes.
In response to the need for people to lead systemic change, designers have been identified as the strongest candidates based on the skillsets they possess. This workshop aims to discuss the KSA essential for designers to become effective facilitators and navigators. Through conversation, collaboration, and creativity, this workshop explores what is needed for future designers and educators to become better equipped for leading the world of tomorrow.
KEYWORDS: systemic co-design, systemic transitions, skills, abilities, attitudes, knowledge, KSA, competencies, facilitation, living labs
Presentation dates
RSD12-AMSTERDAM
