Design as the expression of doing things together
An Ecological understanding
- Name
- Denis Hickel
- Year
- 2015
- Institution
- Lisbon School of Architecture Universidade de Lisboa
- Supervisors
- Seaton Baxter, Rita Almendra
- Discipline
- Design
- Scope
- Sustainability
- Taxonomy
- Praxiology
- Type
- Theoretical
- Language
- English
- Wordcount / Pagecount
- 79,100 / 226
- Joint supervision
- No
Design activism to further construct a culture of ecological sustainability
Research Process (7 methods)
x
1st year design students School of industrial design
1st year design students School of industrial design
CoDesign with high school students aged 13 to 15
CoDesign with students aged 17 to 20
Group of students from the CoDesign experiments
Primary school students aged 4 to 6
| # | Name of Method | Research Phase | Research Approach | Researcher Role | Object of Study / Participants | N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Literature review | Exploratory | Qualitative | x | x | x |
| 2 | Experiment | Generative/Evaluative | Qualitative | Participatory | 1st year design students School of industrial design | 10 |
| 3 | Questionnaire | Generative/Evaluative | Qualitative | x | 1st year design students School of industrial design | 10 |
| 4 | Design project | Generative/Evaluative | Qualitative | Participatory | CoDesign with high school students aged 13 to 15 | 109 |
| 5 | Design project | Generative/Evaluative | Qualitative | Participatory | CoDesign with students aged 17 to 20 | 32 |
| 6 | Questionnaire | Evaluative | Qualitative | x | Group of students from the CoDesign experiments | 119 |
| 7 | Experiment | Generative/Evaluative | Qualitative | Participatory | Primary school students aged 4 to 6 | unspecified |
Knowledge Transfer & Exchange
Knowledge Exchange (PhD Process): Exchange with community
| IK&T | Academia | Design Practice | Society |
|---|---|---|---|
| Context | No | No | No |
| Vision | No | No | Yes |
| Means | No | Yes | Partially |
Recommendations (6)
Bring design thinking into educational domains to facilitate creative participation, holistic thinking, future thinking, and a project mindset within schools and learning communities.
- Scope:
- Macro
- Time Horizon:
- Medium → Long
- Evidence Strength:
- Indicative
- Feasibility:
- High
Educate for human living within the health-maintaining and life-supporting processes of the planetary biosphere, engaging learners with spirit, heart, head, and hands.
- Scope:
- Macro
- Time Horizon:
- Long
- Evidence Strength:
- Exploratory
- Feasibility:
- Medium
Reimagine the school as a root-based community of learning connected to place, extending learning into gardens, shelters, community spaces, cities, landscapes, forests, creeks, museums, and libraries.
- Scope:
- Macro
- Time Horizon:
- Long
- Evidence Strength:
- Indicative
- Feasibility:
- Medium
Reconnect compartmentalized knowledge to the essential needs of people and places so that learning, local economies, scientific advances, and local wisdom can be aligned more respectfully.
- Scope:
- Macro
- Time Horizon:
- Long
- Evidence Strength:
- Exploratory
- Feasibility:
- Medium
Develop further strategies to engage, commit, and empower participants so that ecological-imagination exercises move beyond awareness and ideation into planning, action, implementation, review, and celebration.
- Scope:
- Macro
- Time Horizon:
- Medium → Long
- Evidence Strength:
- Indicative
- Feasibility:
- Medium
Develop the practical skills, materials, and means required to implement participants’ ecological ideas, such as gardens, local food systems, and other place-based interventions.
- Scope:
- Macro
- Time Horizon:
- Medium → Long
- Evidence Strength:
- Indicative
- Feasibility:
- Medium