GreenD - Summer School
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Project Description
GreenD is an educational initiative that aims to rethink the study of design. It motivates to work together across disciplines and cultures and promotes the education of sustainability pioneers. With my project, a summer school, I want to create an awareness of sustainability through a shared experience of nature and professional knowledge. Design students will become multipliers of a grassroots movement who will define future teaching content with impulsive and forward-looking ideas.
Geographical Scope
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Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
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Description of the project
Summary
GreenD is an educational initiative that aims to rethink and transform design education in a sustainable way. The environmental crisis is the greatest challenge of our time. It is immensely complex, affects us all and can only be overcome with courage, team spirit and rapid action. So far, the topic of sustainability has not been a fixed and central part of the curriculum of many (design-) universities. GreenD will contribute to the promotion of sustainability pioneers and enable them to develop solutions for eco-social transformation. Crucial to this are the formation of individual perspectives and ways of acting in the confrontation with further social, societal, political and economic conditions and options. We, as designers, must use our influence on social ways of thinking and behaving and make the topic of sustainability visible and tangible. The starting point and orientation of the project are the SDGs of the United Nations and the Green Deal of the European Union. The principle is: feel - think - action! Let's rethink, suggest, discard and use design education as a creative field of experimentation. The vision is that sustainability becomes an integral part of all educational institutions and the basis for our understanding, awareness and actions. The mission is to impulse, support and motivate sustainability pioneers in the design field to work together across disciplines and cultures. They become multipliers of a grassroots movement at their universities and beyond. They carry sustainable, value-based thinking and action into the culture, the markets and the world.
- GreenD is a sustainable education initiative in the design sector
- It promotes sustainability pioneers
- It promotes the integration of sustainability content in the curriculum
- The SDGs and the Green Deal serve as a basis
- We operate as a grassroots movement
Key objectives for sustainability
GreenD works with different educational formats such as lectures and workshops. A special project of mine is an experiential summer school. The currently planned one takes place in France, by the sea and on a sustainable research sailing boat. The boat is sponsored by the non-profit association "Okeanos - Learning from the Sea" and is powered purely by wind and sun. The circumstances make us aware of the limited, usable resources and thus it offers the perfect location. One focus is the direct experience of nature. Possible topics include marine pollution, microplastics, species extinction and biodiversity. Insights from experts, the confrontation with nature (the sea) and the limited living and working space form the framework for new experiential knowledge. During the Summer School, the aim is to find out how design can contribute to developing a transformation towards a more sustainable form. What answers can future design practice offer for dealing with limited resources and living in harmony with nature? The Summer School serves as an experimental laboratory to test potential research topics in the field of sustainability and to use them as content for university educational programmes. Through various thematic focuses attention is drawn to different aspects of climate impact and damage. Design related to the experience of nature, is to be rediscovered and integrated. An awareness for natural cycles as well as the transfer to economic conditions, developments and processes is created. This gives rise to approaches for new services and products. The cradle-to-cradle principle is a good orientation for that. Through a circular economy of goods, and services and the use of new materials, resources are saved and the amount of waste is reduced.
- Summer School as a concept for the Award
- Nature as a field of experience
- Strengthening the sense of unity
- Understanding interrelationships and cycles
- Transformation to a circular design practice
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
GreenD trains sustainability pioneers who act and communicate as supporters and links between the actors of politics, business, science, civil society and education. These different levels of interaction are intended to support an overarching structural change. We as designers have a great influence on consumer behaviour and the way our society thinks and acts. As an intersection of many competences and disciplines we can meet challenges with holistic solutions. Design is increasingly becoming an ethical and ecological challenge. We have to ask ourselves how we want to live, and can live in the future. On the one hand, digitisation and globalisation are innovative drivers and lead to improvements in many areas; on the other hand, a high degree of alienation and distraction of natural processes goes hand in hand with it. How can design rethink and shape the economy in a sustainable way and quide consumers in such a way that a transformation can succeed step by step? The Summer School serves to raise awareness of nature-related topics. In design theory and practice sensual perception, the conscious experience of the uniqueness and beauty of natural diversity, the confrontation with oneself and the environment must be given a higher priority. Experiences in and with nature lead to a connection to, and appreciation of it. This develops into authentic, conscious action and a shared dedication to achieving something in the long term. It is a matter of developing concepts and products that support usability, maintainability and repairability.
- Design as translator, mediator & intersection
- Raising awareness of issues
- Purpose driven work / meaningful work
- Beauty
- Thoughtfulness
Key objectives for inclusion
What does greenD stand for? The name is programmatic. The D stands for democracy, diversity, design and emerged from the European GreenDeal. The primary goal and task of the community is the conservation and restoration of nature as the basis of life. This requires insight,collaboration and a sensible and reasonable use of resources. It is about taking a life-centered view instead of a human-centered one. Different local, regional and global needs must be taken into account in order to preserve the quality of life of our society. The education of young people worldwide must be aligned to the challenges of the future. Hence, individual skills must be combined with social and professional skills, creating new approaches and opportunities. These changes support a free, open and accessible participation. The acceptance of every individual, regardless of origin or age, as well as gender and social aspects, must be acknowledged. Inclusive education, as part of inclusion, must also extend beyond school to all areas of society. The Summer School concept aims to expand the current educational offer and to accelerate the development of future-proofed skills in design. Applications are to be made proactively and for the selection of participants a diverse composition is emphasized e.g. a balanced gender ratio. Previous knowledge of sustainability is not required, but interest and motivation are. Through funding I want to keep the costs of the Summer School low. The prize money could be used to financially support students who cannot afford the participation fee and thus enable them to take part. After each Summer School, there will be a publication in the form of digital and analogue reports on experiences and findings, used for external communication and for further development of topics.
- Multi-layered - multi-perspective
- Diversity & Equality
- Community
- Inclusive world - enabling participation
- Open source - developing together
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
GreenD as an educational initiative promotes the training/formation of sustainability pioneers in the design field. Design is an important intersection between the different systems and professions, acting as a translator at the same time. Students are empowered to become multipliers of a grassroots movement. We implement this through various educational formats such as summer schools. The currently planned one takes place on the french coast and on a research sailing boat. There we learn together with and from nature. It serves as a direct field of experience and supports the processing, recollection and sensitisation of natural cycles and connections as well as of limited resources. The transformation to the mindset of a circular design practice is created and provides the basis to develop holistic solutions. A development of consciousness also takes place with regard to our social environment, fellow human beings, the community and living together. The activities and the limited space on the boat strengthen and promote the group's sense of togetherness. A team is formed that wants to recognise and preserve the natural foundations of life through joint commitment.
