Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA)’s Post

Mark your calendars!! Karen, Adam and the RAD team will be exhibiting at Education Estates 2024 on 15th & 16th October at Manchester Central. You can visit our stand (414) and hear about how we’re integrating sustainability, technology and flexible spaces to meet the needs of 21st century students. We’ll give you examples of how we’ve helped schools create learning environments that are innovative, adaptable, and built for the future. Plus, you can hear from our Managing Director, Karen Sanderson, who will be speaking at this year’s conference on the critical topic of sustainable classroom design. As schools and educational institutions face increasing pressure to meet sustainability goals, our approach puts the environment at the heart of creating inspiring, functional, and future-proof classrooms. Karen will explain why going green in classroom design doesn’t limit design, it enhances it! It improves student well-being, boosts academic performance, and reduces operational costs for schools, making it better for the earth, better for students, better for budgets…and definitely better for design. See you there!! #RAD #EducationEstates #ClassroomDesign #SustainabilityinDesign #Sustainablefurniture 

We are on Easter 'break' at LIS, where a pause in teaching until the Summer Term offers a valuable opportunity for introspection regarding our modules, academic goals, and impact beyond the classroom - something I am always doing, however..... Over the past ten days, I've had the privilege of engaging with industry and practitioners in three different contexts. Firstly, as a judge for the Waltham Forest Design Awards, I had the chance to explore new residential developments, refurbished local libraries and innovative sports venues, all of which showcased exemplary approaches to design, environmental landscapes and technical operational solutions. Secondly, I reviewed R+D projects within the innovative C-Lab programme at Buro Happold. This initiative empowers employees to delve into challenges within the built environment, providing a two-year window to develop and implement solutions. Lastly, I was interviewed by a prominent UK and global landowner who is reshaping their approach to fulfilling ESG commitments. We cast the net wide and discussed many opportunities for greater impact, with lots of follow up actions now planned. These encounters allow for dynamic reflections on teaching methodology and how it can continuously evolve to amplify both academic and industry impact. It's a good reminder that progress lies in fostering symbiotic relationships between academia and industry, rather than viewing them in isolation. This symbiosis represents the cornerstone of transformative change in both education and professional practice. This is how we change the future.

📢✨ We are thrilled to announce the publication of our first book together: "Science, Technology, and Innovation for the Environment" ✨📢 This project was made possible thanks to the collaborative work with my talented doctoral students, Francisco and Ramiro, and my esteemed colleague and friend, Carlos. In this book, we explore innovative approaches to tackle today’s environmental challenges and contribute to sustainable development. 🔍 We hope this publication inspires and provides valuable tools for those striving to make a positive impact on the environment. Thank you for joining us on this exciting journey! Urban Childhood Environments and the Right to the City as a Pillar of Sustainability is a work that examines how cities can be transformed to meet children’s needs while fostering sustainable and inclusive environments. The book explores the concept of the "right to the city" and its impact on children’s quality of life, addressing the importance of designing urban spaces that promote well-being, safety, holistic development, and access to opportunities. Through an analysis of urban policies, architectural design, and sustainable planning, it studies models and cases that integrate green spaces, safe play areas, accessibility, and other essentials for children's growth in urban environments. The book also highlights how these approaches not only benefit children but also foster urban development that positively impacts the whole community and enhances the city’s sustainability. #NewBook #Environment #SustainableInnovation #TeamWork #UPV

Over the past week, the World Urban Forum hosted their twelfth session, with the theme "It All Starts at Home". As cities face the challenges of climate change, they are also uniquely positioned to lead the change in creating sustainable, resilient, and environmentally minded communities. Unfortunately, the impacts of the climate crisis weigh most heavily on marginalized communities, who are often at the highest risk of facing climate disasters, health risks, food insecurity, and water scarcity. This leads us to talk about the second dialogue, "Cities and the climate crisis", and the importance this holds to us at Dream Networks. To drive effective climate action, we must involve and amplify the voices of marginalized groups—including women, persons with disabilities, the poor, children and youth, older persons, and minority communities—we can develop solutions that are both inclusive and impactful. A recent project by Dream Networks provides example of localized action in action. In our Playful Engineers programme, through interactive workshops, children from local primary and secondary schools explored how engineering can help tackle sustainability challenges. Led by volunteer engineers, these young minds identified local climate issues, then used design tools like modelling and CAD to develop creative solutions. The final result? A public exhibit that transformed spaces in London into welcoming hubs of innovation. The children’s ideas occupied these spaces and showcased how every voice—even the youngest among us—can play a role in addressing the climate crisis. The impact was inspiring: “It made me feel like I would change the world.” — Student participant Over 1,000 community members experienced the exhibit, and our young participants demonstrated how powerful locally-led, community-driven climate action can be. #worldurbanforum #wuf12 #digitalera #communities #play4all UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme) See below to read more about the impact of our Playful Engineers project: https://lnkd.in/ep6r7VPY

It's Black Friday and that means retailers will be desperately trying to flog you things you don't need with often questionable discounts. You can't move on Amazon for discounted small household appliances. Appliances that in a lot of cases will end up in landfill in a couple of years because everything is increasingly built to be disposed of rather than repaired. But, it doesn't have to be this way. The next generation are already taking steps to avoid making those same mistakes and leaving the planet in an even greater mess. Take De Montfort University student Gabriel Kay who was recently featured in the Guardian/Observer for the repairable kettle he designed. We all have one at home. We've all had to dispose of one in the past. But why can't we have a product that's built to be fixable? And fixable by us in our own homes with no skill or knowledge required. E-waste is a huge issue we'll leave behind for future generations but it's great to see young people recognise this and work to be part of the solution rather than the problem. So before you buy that overpriced electric toothbrush from Mr Bezos ask yourself where it'll be in five years time whilst he's off buying himself another spaceship.

Reflections & Directions: Future Island-Island Strengthening the GTE Workshop (WP3) ⏩ The recent workshop was distinguished by the creativity and collaboration of the professionals in attendance, offering a rich ground for generating and refining innovative ideas. From dynamic speed chatting sessions and visualising connection networks to crafting design manifestos and thematic project briefs, attendees ignited their creative sparks and envisioned uncharted circular system solutions for Rathlin Island and beyond. 💭 The room was inspired by pitch presentations from within the designer ecosystem including the FII team, practice partners & ecosystem engineers, emerging creatives, as well as the winners & finalists from the ‘Regenerative Rathlin’ competition held in December 2023. Their insights and experiences provided valuable perspectives that enriched collaborative efforts and sparked discussions throughout the gathering. Building on the thematic design manifestos from Day 1, attendees worked in groups to develop design project briefs. By flowing between different groups and themes, everyone could contribute their unique insights, allowing for a dynamic review and adaptation process. This collaborative effort focused on themes of food, water, energy, landscapes, and materials and led to the co-creation of innovative concepts.💡 From this exercise we identified several exciting briefs for future investigation, with upcoming cross-pollination discussions to include media and communication, collaboration and networking, funding and future-proofing, research and theory, and materials and design. The briefs include: 🔸️Archiving Futures 🔸️New Life, Old Ruins 🔸️Water Story 🔸️Birds & Materials 🔸️Cross Connections Looking forward to diving into these concepts and continuing our exploration. The workshop has set a strong foundation for work package design collectives, fostering knowledge exchange through cross-disciplinary teams, and providing the freedom to collaborate and innovate with input from diverse communities and perspectives.🚀 Stay tuned as we embark on these new creative journeys! ____ Work Package 3: Organic Waste Ecosystems Underpinned by research from the Future Island-Island project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and supported by Design Council's Future Observatory. the Design Museum | Ulster University | Queen's University Belfast #Design #FutureIslandIsland #GreenTransition #GTE #Sustainability #CircularEconomy #CircularDesign #WasteEcosystems

🌍 Exciting Announcement: "Mapping as a Tool for Collective Thinking" Workshop Series in Berlin! 🎨🗺️ I’m thrilled to coordinate the upcoming "Mapping as a Tool for Collective Thinking" workshop series, happening in Berlin from 25-28 November! This initiative bridges artistic methods, design practices, and intergenerational collaboration to foster active participation in community building. In collaboration with students from Alfred-Nobel-Schule in Neukölln, this project is part of the FORM IT practical module at weißensee kunsthochschule berlin, organized with Habitat Forum Berlin and Young Arts Diversity. 💡 Workshop Highlights: ✨ Workshops 1 & 2: Students at Alfred-Nobel-Schule in Neukölln will develop their own visions of social spaces while learning about sustainable urban development. Through hands-on activities, they’ll strengthen design skills, foster personal responsibility, and experience the transformative power of collective processes. ✨ Workshop 3: An engaging session for creative professionals and students interested in participatory design. Using speculative methods like fictional scenarios and “what-if” narratives, participants will co-create alternative urban futures that inspire inclusion and sustainability. ✨ Reflection Session: An interactive dialogue to share insights on co-creation and explore how participatory approaches can shape our shared spaces. 📍 Berlin | 25-28 November 2024 This series is perfect for anyone passionate about co-creation, community building, and creative advocacy. 💬 Let’s Connect! If you’re in Berlin and want to participate or learn more, feel free to reach out. I’d love to hear your thoughts on how participatory processes can reshape our cities. #CommunityBuilding #ParticipatoryDesign #UrbanDevelopment #SpeculativeThinking #CoCreation #Mapping

Discover our latest blog post: "Designing the School of the Future." Explore how modern schools are evolving with flexible learning environments, advanced technology, sustainable designs, collaborative spaces, and inclusivity at their core. Dive into the key elements shaping tomorrow’s educational spaces and see how these concepts are becoming a reality today. Read now: https://lnkd.in/dmd9DCFr #CUUB #CUUBstudio

Doing to find solutions; the results can be surprising and the process rewarding.

Really nice review of Ecoart in Action! Appreciate the reviewer's comments on expanding our understanding of aesthetics "...as a whole, the book could be said to also be an education in environmental aesthetics as most of the activities provide opportunity to engage with the environment in empathic ways and /or explore our relationships with the natural environment, nature and ecologies." https://lnkd.in/eS7gc5WS