This paper addresses the need to preserve culturally unique knowledge for future generations. This user-centered design-research case study focused on preserving Indigenous Knowledge (IK) of the South-African BaNtwane culture, specifically focusing on their rich beadwork and oral traditions. Our approach allows for design research in a scenario where the community is represented by a few prominent members, simultaneously making provision for the incorporation of modern technology in a society trailing in technology adoption. The study resulted in a recording device that fits the target group’s oral tradition and is based on a concept in which oral stories are recorded and associated with tangible beads that can be incorporated into traditional beadwork. The device and interaction design embraces the culture’s aesthetics and existing IK mechanisms.

To stay within the planetary boundaries, we have to take responsibility, and this includes designers. This requires new perspectives on design. In this work, we focus on a co-design project with indigenous communities. Within such communities, indigenous knowledge is central. Indigenous knowledge acknowledges that the world is alive and that we, as humans, are merely a small part. Central in our approach is Sheehan’s respectful design, which ensures a central place for indigenous knowledge in the design process. However, Sheehan’s approach does not state in pragmatic terms how such a design approach can be achieved. Some of the co-design processes we engaged in led to respectful design spaces, others did not. This helped us to identify patterns of dynamics that are essential for respectful design. At the core of our findings lies the observation that in order to reach a respectful design space, in which indigenous knowledge is embedded, a shared dialogical space between community and designer is essential.

This article introduces a case study undertaken in the indigenous Penan community of Long Lamai, Upper Baram, Sarawak, Malaysia. In this community, there is concern about the negative image other cultural groups hold of the Penan. This case study explores co-design as a means to invite community members, together with a designer, to explore the identity that they would like to present to people outside the community. In preparing for an exhibition to challenge perceptions, it turned out to be important to embrace the culture of the community to facilitate self-expression, introducing new concepts such as technological interventions and design probes to stimulate reflection and creativity. However, it was indigenous material culture, when actively and encouragingly supported by the designer, that had a key role in developing the co-design and, with it, empathic understanding between designer and community.

Our contemporary world is organized in a modern/colonial structure. As people, professions and practices engage in cross-country Design for Sustainability (DfS), projects have the potential of sustaining or changing modern/colonial power structures. In such project relations, good intentions in working for sustainability do not directly result in liberation from modern/colonial power structures. In this paper we introduce three approaches in DfS that deal with power relations. Using a Freirean (1970) decolonial perspective, we analyse these approaches to see how they can inform DfS towards being decolonial and anti-oppressive. We conclude that steering DfS to become decolonial or colonizing is a relational issue based on the interplay between the designers’ position in the modern/colonial structure, the design approach chosen, the place and the people involved in DfS. Hence, a continuous critical reflexive practice is needed in order to prevent DfS from becoming yet another colonial tool.

Indigenous communities, highly vulnerable to climate change and biodiversity loss, often find their knowledge excluded from climate research and policymaking. This Situated Action is the finale of the project, entitled; Indigenous Climate Observatories: local knowledge for Local Action, which addressed this contradiction. This project was done in parallel by 7 different Indigenous communities, in collaboration with (local) researchers and other societal actors. Together we explored Indigenous Climate Observatories as a conceptual entity which is focusing on 1) defining local change indicators, 2) using those change indicators to observe and track change, 3) reflecting on this change and 4) collaboratively planning for action in relation to this change. Through the Situated Action, where we assemble the project outcomes, we aim to further reflect on what Indigenous Climate Observatories can be, after which we co-create a Climate Observatory as a representation of these reflections and different perspectives.

‘Modern’ design research is situated in and emerged from a specific worldview, which it still echoes. This has implications when we design with groups who hold other worldviews, such as Indigenous communities. It can, for example, affect colonial power structures of dependency as well as be colonising by imposing worldviews and prescribing solutions and methods. If we consider ‘modern’ design as just a specific type of design, among other ways, we could follow a pluriversal understanding of design. In order to meet respectfully in a pluriverse, there is a need to collaborate and to hand-over control to the community. One way of thinking about design in a pluriverse could be to think through an Indigenous knowledge approach to design, in which we respectfully show care and awareness in how we identify, explore and assess meaning – acknowledging that our view is always incomplete. In the project described in this chapter, the author has attempted to take up such a respectful approach to design, which required a re-learning of what it means to be a designer/researcher. She goes into the project, the different designs that evolved from it and examines whether, and how those designs were designed through a respectful design approach.

To stay within the planetary boundaries, we have to take responsibility, and this includes designers. This requires new perspectives on design. In this work, we focus on a co-design project with indigenous communities. Within such communities, indigenous knowledge is central. Indigenous knowledge acknowledges that the world is alive and that we, as humans, are merely a small part. Central in our approach is Sheehan’s respectful design, which ensures a central place for indigenous knowledge in the design process. However, Sheehan’s approach does not state in pragmatic terms how such a design approach can be achieved. Some of the co-design processes we engaged in led to respectful design spaces, others did not. This helped us to identify patterns of dynamics that are essential for respectful design. At the core of our findings lies the observation that in order to reach a respectful design space, in which indigenous knowledge is embedded, a shared dialogical space between community and designer is essential.

This research focuses on designing with indigenous communities. The use of design raises concerns in this context. Because of the aim to ‘improve’ lives and the emphasis on innovation, design approaches have the probability to colonise. As designers, we have to find ways to deal with such concerns. Approaches that do this within the context of indigenous communities are Sheehan’s respectful design and Tunstall’s culture-based innovation. Both approaches acknowledge that the community should benefit from projects. In this, the role of the designer becomes to spark the resourcefulness of the community members to find such benefit. However, neither approach states in pragmatic terms how such a space can be reached. Therefore, this research aims to: explore the dynamics of a respectful design space in co-creative and co-reflective encounters with indigenous communities; and to provide recommendations to reach such a space. 

The explorations were performed by introducing co-creative design methods during a case study with three indigenous communities. Some co-creative processes led to respectful design spaces, others did not. All processes were analytically studied by combining annotated portfolios and content analysis in timelines. The aim was to find patterns of dynamics essential for respectful design. The dynamics that arose were: 1) ownership through the type of design participation, 2) indicators of ownership, 3) the type of novel expressions made and 4) the type of material culture introduced. This led to contributions of this research being, firstly, a framework of a respectful design space and recommendations of how to reach such a space. Secondly, the concept of constellations of design initiatives, to understand respectful design in situ. Thirdly, the importance of inclusion of the community’s own material culture to facilitate dialogical spaces, and, finally, the analytical approach used to find the dynamics. 

PhD Thesis – Lizette Reitsma (small)Download

This paper addresses the need to preserve culturally unique knowledge for future generations. This user-centered design-research case study focused on preserving Indigenous Knowledge (IK) of the South-African BaNtwane culture, specifically focusing on their rich beadwork and oral traditions. Our approach allows for design research in a scenario where the community is represented by a few prominent members, simultaneously making provision for the incorporation of modern technology in a society trailing in technology adoption. The study resulted in a recording device that fits the target group’s oral tradition and is based on a concept in which oral stories are recorded and associated with tangible beads that can be incorporated into traditional beadwork. The device and interaction design embraces the culture’s aesthetics and existing IK mechanisms.

This article introduces a case study undertaken in the indigenous Penan community of Long Lamai, Upper Baram, Sarawak, Malaysia. In this community, there is concern about the negative image other cultural groups hold of the Penan. This case study explores co-design as a means to invite community members, together with a designer, to explore the identity that they would like to present to people outside the community. In preparing for an exhibition to challenge perceptions, it turned out to be important to embrace the culture of the community to facilitate self-expression, introducing new concepts such as technological interventions and design probes to stimulate reflection and creativity. However, it was indigenous material culture, when actively and encouragingly supported by the designer, that had a key role in developing the co-design and, with it, empathic understanding between designer and community.

Projects focusing on preserving cultural heritage are most usually instigated by a researcher. Yet, the question arises ‘whether such projects are beneficial for the studied communities?’ This paper describes the first part of a co-reflective, design research case study exploring through design the dynamics of the disappearance of culture heritage. By guidelines for respectful design (synthesized from literature) we sought to find an indigenous community to work with and a design direction beneficial for them. Our initial visits to three indigenous communities in Malaysia, where we developed and introduced empathic design probes, led to the Penan community becoming particularly interested in the project. A design direction arose, which aimed to explore technological design as a means to spark intergenerational conversations on being a Penan.

This paper addresses the need to preserve culturally unique knowledge for future generations. This user-centered design-research case study focused on preserving Indigenous Knowledge (IK) of the South-African BaNtwane culture, specifically focusing on their rich beadwork and oral traditions. Our approach allows for design research in a scenario where the community is represented by a few prominent members, simultaneously making provision for the incorporation of modern technology in a society trailing in technology adoption. The study resulted in a recording device that fits the target group’s oral tradition and is based on a concept in which oral stories are recorded and associated with tangible beads that can be incorporated into traditional beadwork. The device and interaction design embraces the culture’s aesthetics and existing IK mechanisms.

Handcrafted beadwork produced by the BaNtwane people of South Africa is loaded with meaning. Communicating indigenous oral stories is important for passing on culture-specific traditions and community memory, such as the meaning of the handcrafted beadwork. Oral stories are told within the physical confines of the community. The community we focus on in this paper suffers from younger generations moving away physically, start preferring the English language over their mother tongue and digital over oral communication, and therefore this co-located storytelling process is interrupted. As part of the Story Beads project we have created an interactive system that incorporates a combination of physical objects and modern technology for recording and replaying oral stories that can help preserve the meaning of the handcrafted beadwork of the BaNtwane people.

A microgrid’s self-consumption rate reflects its ability to retain its own energy and decrease its reliance on the synchronous grid. This paper investigates the empirical case of a microgrid equipped with photovoltaic (PV) panels and identifies challenges in engaging the microgrid’s users to increase their self-consumption. Accordingly, we explored both the physical and social dimensions of the microgrid. The former involved mapping the electricity consumption and production through an exploratory data analysis, and evaluating the associated price signals, while the latter involved the use of design interventions to explore users’ perceptions of the system. We highlight the problem of price signal impedance, the need for cost reflective pricing and the challenge in designing and extending internal price models in settings with various actors. We address the limitations of price signals, alongside alternative unidimensional signals, and emphasize the need for an integrated approach to a user engagement strategy as well as the challenges that this approach entails. Our results shed light on the complexity of energy communities such as microgrids, and why their implementation can introduce multidimensional challenges that demand cross-disciplinary approaches.

(Swedish) Schaeffer J., Ryöppy, M., Reitsma, L. et al., 2020. Koldioxidteater på Museum. Västmanlands Läns Museum. ISBN: 978-91-87828-70-6.

This book is about the Carbon Dioxide Theatre project, in which we explored how participatory theatre and partici-patory design methods can be used in a museum to create engagement with climate issues. 

The Carbon Dioxide Theatre project focused on young people’s ability to reflect on and critically review social norms and practices around climate targets and carbon dioxide emissions, although the process affected all participants. Objects from the museum’s existing collections were central to the project to create reflections on past and present social norms. 

With this text, we want to inspire you to explore how museums can develop new ways of working with collect-ions and communication related to our cultural heritage and contemporary global challenges. 

In the text, we have mixed descriptions of the process and the methods, with personal stories from us in the project in order to share as many different perspectives of the project as possible with you. We hope that you will get inspired!