The value of design research in practice and its relationship to the academy

Title: Failure of Design Change (meaningful roles for art and design) Can we change our views on education for sustainable design to meet the greatest challenge of the 21st century? The problems surrounding global debate on the future of the planet are complicated, that’s for sure, can art and design play a meaningful role in the future, let’s hope so, but in terms of education for sustainable development (ESD) surely it needs to. Some artists and designers have the skill for making new connections, pulling together strands from different fields and integrating them into new ways of looking at the world. These men and women should be more in demand by global strategy departments, governments and producers, who prize the ability to tackle complex problems through synthesis and expert assumptions. Whilst the media often presents a stream of negative stories relating to unsustainable trends, it is good to remember that change throws up opportunities as well as challenges. If we shed the blinkers for a moment and see the world differently there are many positive shifts. These include the mainstreaming of design in business and the public sector, better understanding by designers of the problems facing the developing world and design companies taking on the initiatives of socially inclusive projects. This paper discusses how students of higher education within the creative arts and the educators of those students have to hone their ideas and creativity and focus on: • Constructive engagement, which uses design as a social catalyst and brings divergent cultures towards engagement. • Cool transparency, which employs openness and co-design techniques. • Rapid proto-type ideas, which can be created quickly and are easy failures (failures which are not costly and can be speedily corrected). • Organise and co-create, that is, engage with networks through smart use of technologies, nurture meaningful dialogues and finally, share assets across networks and knowledge that has use for all, even at a higher level. The recent economic recession combined with a rise in media coverage relating to eco issues has intensified public awareness of the pitfalls of consumer culture. Increasing numbers of people are beginning to make informed decisions about the necessity of their purchases. Designers who decide to work within a set of strict moral and ethical boundaries are in a great position to attract a more mainstream audience than would previously have been feasible. Is this what is needed, is this what is wanted, is this what we want to believe? Increased interest by growing numbers of consumers, combined with a more prominent position of ethically-designed goods, could lead to a movement away from mass-marketed, disposable goods, and a return to an appreciation of high quality goods that are long-lasting, useful, beautiful and socially responsible. So is the future is up for grabs, will the trick be to spend less time thinking about what we do now, and more time on what is changing out there in the world and responding to it with invention. As Charles Eames famously stated, ‘Design depends largely on constraints’ (Eames, 2000, p 175).