Pluriversal Design & Participatory Learning
On June 4th, I participated in my first conference of this year: Pivot2020, hosted by The Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking at Tulane University together with The Pluriversal Design Special Interest Group of the Design Research Society (DRS).
With the theme ‘Designing a world of many centers’, PIVOT2020 aimed to ‘encourage conversations around shifting centers, methods, epistemologies and ontologies’, asking participants to ‘pivot the discussion of decolonization from an academic critical perspective’ towards a perspective that is more ‘creative and generative’.
Like nearly everything academic, research and teaching, conferences have been forced online in response to Covid-19. It’s been interesting to watch the emerging forms and models of virtual interaction, how organisers have shifted and indeed pivoted in response to travel bans and limitations on institutional resources.
PIVOT2020 was labelled as the (un)conference, with a focus on nurturing, cultivating and connecting people. Over 40 people shared their perspectives over the course of one day with no parallel sessions, removing the need to prioritise (and potentially miss)interesting content. Tracks consisted of fours types of presentation: full papers (presented live or by video), rapid slide presentations, coffee time discussions and visual presentation.
The introduction of pre-recorded video presentations was a winner all round. The ten-minute limit ensured that videos were clear, concise, kept to time and presenters were able to manage their narrative in a way that was so much more focused (and interesting to watch). I’m one of the worst for getting carried away mid-presentation, losing my chain of thought and stepping off-stage with ‘I should’ve said this, and this’ flashing through my head. Video presentations enabled me to have much more control — and also leave me the video as an added-value output. Each video was introduced by the organiser and played as a zoom screen-share. At the end of each track, we had live Q&A’s, a great opportunity for discussion and it felt much more open and intimate than in the usual conference format.
For a conference that was focused around the pluriverse, recognising the need for more diverse voices, PIVOT2020 attempted (I think successfully) to democratise the main narratives of design by including works from across the globe, crossing boundaries of gender, of colour, of academic status and much, much more. But words alone are not enough, it will be action that contributes to actual change and impact. I’m hopeful that the continued engagement of the PIVOT community and the evolution of the DRS Pluriversal Design SIG will contribute to this in a meaningful way.
The full range of amazing works, papers and videos will be released for dissemination shortly. In the meantime, here’s my abstract:
Exploring participatory learning beyond the Institution
Engaged practices of participatory design and socially-constructed models of learning value both experience and interaction, recognising that understanding alternative perspectives can elicit deeper insights and create a rich culture of openness and exchange for those involved. Participatory design attempts to re-position passive research participants towards active contributors in addressing societal challenges. Similarly, academia recognises the pedagogical value of industry and community engagement, to inform and influence practices and provide students with real-world experience.
However, this approach is structured to fit within Western, neoliberal ideologies. Critical reflection is required to speculate about possible pluralistic futures, and the design studio can offer such a space. Re-aligning with a sense of collective responsibility through the engagement of external voices, design education can encourage creativity, promote criticality and importantly challenge current thinking and speculate on alternatives.
This paper explores ‘live’ design projects to understand better how such socially-constructed models of learning can challenge and extend the margins of mainstream discourse. Reflecting on the recent pivot to models of online, distributed and distanced design education as a response to COVID-19, this paper considers how participatory learning might enable the transformation of knowing that extends beyond the institution.
