Summary
Civic design has achieved much success in recent decades by focusing on delivering better public services and designing interactions between government and residents. However, to meet the complex challenges humanity and earth face, civic design must evolve so its full potential as a practice and community can be harnessed to address today’s wicked problems, such as mental health, inequality, and climate change. Join us as we explore the paradigm shifts and practices we believe are urgently needed to maximize the impact and relevance of civic design: from human-centered to life-centered; from design thinking to complexity thinking; from ego-systems to eco-systems… and beyond.
Key Insights
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Civic design is transitioning towards a life-centered approach that includes all forms of life in its practice.
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The current state of Civic design focuses on human-centric solutions, but there is an urgent need for ecological and community-oriented design.
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Designers have a responsibility to shape the future culture and values through their practices.
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Community-led design is emerging as a crucial trend, allowing local voices to lead solutions for their own problems.
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The importance of recognizing non-human stakeholders in design processes is critical for addressing systemic issues.
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Complexity thinking and regenerative design principles must be integrated into future Civic design practices.
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Designers must evolve their practices to focus on long-term ecological and social regeneration rather than immediate fixes.
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Radical participatory design initiatives help to empower communities effectively and equitably.
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A mindset shift is required for designers to recognize the interconnectedness of all life and the shared responsibility of care.
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The legacy of designers impacts future generations; awareness of this can guide current practices towards sustainability.
Notable Quotes
"Design creates culture, culture shapes values, and those values determine the future."
"What role do you want to play in helping save us and our beautiful planet from ourselves?"
"Today's problems come from yesterday's solutions."
"If these disappeared off the surface of the Earth, humans would have four years left."
"How might we empower communities to lead and design solutions that impact them directly?"
"We need to restore our senses to understand reality and complexity."
"Community-led design is about allowing people most affected to lead the design processes that impact them."
"Designing for ecological regeneration means healing rather than exploiting our environment."
"We must view people and systems not as static objects, but as living beings to be nourished."
"Designing for the commons benefits all by addressing the needs of the most vulnerable."
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