This document discusses the future of design education. It covers 4 main topics: 1) Drivers of change which explores issues like resource scarcity, financialization, and the need for new values like reconnecting with place. 2) The future curriculum which focuses on systems thinking, social-ecological design, and learning from informal economies. 3) Future learners which explores new models like learning ecosystems centered around places and materials like Fibersheds. 4) Pedagogy which advocates experiential learning through hosting, knowledge curating, and peer-to-peer accreditation rather than traditional classroom models.

1. !
@johnthackara
Futures of
Design Education
Pearl Academy / What‟s Next
New Delhi, 19 December 2014

2. !
1 Drivers of Change WHY
2 Curriculum of the Future WHAT
3 Learners of the Future WHO
4 Pedagogy HOW

3. !
1 Drivers of Change WHY
2 Curriculum of the Future WHAT
3 Learners of the Future WHO
4 Pedagogy HOW
+ the opportunity for business

4. !
1. Drivers of Change (WHY)

5. One x 60
energy & resource intensity
OneOne
>> „development‟ >>

6. Peak credit
financialisation of energy and
resources

7. INFORMALISATION
65% of all workers by 2020
(OECD)

8. Shoe City, Ethiopia av.wage US$35
and impoverishment of the formal

9. “desert of the real”

10. metabolic rift

11. perpetual growth ?

12. Céline Boyer
(DRIVERS)
new values

13. uniqueness of place

14. reconnecting with soils

15. reconnecting with rivers

16. reconnecting with biodiversity

17. value lies in that which cannot scale
place ecology craft

18. (re-)connecting through making

19. values now (re-)emerging>

20. The Great Turning
“the shift from
industrial growth society
to a
life-sustaining civilization”

21. 21
“A global transformation of values has
already begun...a sustainable society would be
welcomed by seventy percent of
world society”

22. 2. Curriculum of the future (WHAT)

23. (er, no thanks)

24. nourishlife.org

25. acting & thinking
at the scale of whole systems

26. catalysing
social-ecological systems

27. growing „transactional capacity‟
Crit, Mumbai

28. nurturing service ecologies

29. learning from informal economies

30. seeking out local ecological knowledge

31. urban
rural
connecting

32. biodiversifying the city

34. LANDSHARE UKconnecting people and spaces in new ways

35. formal informal
3 LEARNERS (WHO)

36. in a social-ecological system,
we are all learners

37. Learners (WHO) example 1: Fibershed

38. fibre farmer
knitter
weaver
designer
seamstress
felter
spinner
cotton farmer
natural dyer
mill owner
shop keeper
web producer

39. assets

40. certification
Wool & Fiber
Symposia

42. r&d

43. global knowledge ecosystem

44. Ravelry.com 5.5 million members

45. Xskool // Kanpur as Leathershed

46. „margin‟ today =
Herder $10 Bag $4,000

47. new concept of
„margin‟
health of land,
the people who
steward it, and
makers
before > after

48. Kanpur as Leathershed ?
WORK TO BE DONE
Mapping resources
New farm activities
Traceability
Service platforms / hubs
Tools and equipment
Knowledge sharing
“under what circumstances would
everyone in Kanpur‟s leather ecosystem
share responsibilties and benefits?”

49. Kanpur as Leathershed ?
WORK TO BE DONE
Mapping resources
New farm activities
Traceability
Service platforms / hubs
Tools and equipment
Knowledge sharing
stakeholders
land - water - cow - herder - agent - tanner
factory - wholesaler - designer - brand
e-commerce - retailer - user - holding

50. Learners (3): Urban freight

51. >95% cheaper

52. velowalah.org
swarm intelligence
5% resources
resilience
solidarity

54. 67,000 threads

55. 4. Pegagogy (HOW)

56. HOW: curating
(don‟t discuss it - make it !)

58. HOW = hosting

59. HOW = learning journey guide

60. HOW =
talk
designing

61. HOW = convening

62. HOW = knowledge curating

63. HOW = P2P accrediting

65. 4. Pedagogy (HOW)
New jobs and livelihoods for
tomorrow‟s designers
“curator”
“talk designer”
“steward”
“host”
“convenor”
“gardener”

66. we‟re doing this for them @johnthackara