Coresearchers

Students Year 2
Quoi Alexander, Bonnie Carr, Susanna-Mei Casuncad, Mark Hester, Lucy Mitchell, Sherry Perrault, Ines Quinones Fabregas, Kristen Robb, Marcell Csillag, Olga Glagoleva, Charlie Whinney

MARD Team
Judith van den Boom, Delfina Fantini van Ditmar

Design Innovation Group
Merel van der Woude, Dan Eames, Thais Costa

The Nieuwe Instituut,
Nadia Troeman, Klaas Kuitenbrouwer, Frank Verkade

Living Lexicon for Reworlding

The MA Regenerative Design of Central Saint Martins and Design Innovation Group are both on a learning journey to make regenerative design more tangible and inclusive, to explore what it can be and how designers from different fields and different cultural and geographical backgrounds can further regenerative principles through the activation of being living system communities. In collaboration with knowledge partners the Nieuwe Institute and guests this project explores the practical processes of designing regeneratively.

We feel the need to transition to a regenerative society, and work towards increasing our human relational capacity and understanding. Numerous inspiring initiatives and vast potential for applying regenerative approaches are emerging. We are optimistic about this future and recognize the many voices, experiences and perspectives around the world who are developing relational practices. Yet, we also see we operate in our bubble, working often from the contexts we grew up in, privilege, capacity, or design-led ways that serve only specific audiences.

How can we practice and foster learning as a multi-species community? How do we shift from projecting design solutions to co-creating a more open, collective regenerative society?

Regeneration requires working as a living system and acknowledging how we as humans are part of a complexity of biological interdependent systems - from cell to society. Regenerative futures require thinking beyond the human markets and audience and serve the flourishing of all species. Practicing being human in a more-than-human world, learning from lived-experiences and building creative, inclusive and practical forms to communicate and activate this vision for a regenerative world.
These ecological and biological systems or living systems are often beyond the grasp of human knowledge so how do we relate and learn? How do we envision a regenerative society that is led by living system communities? What might this mean for how we live together as a living system, how might we build relations, mend, work and connect? How might we share, nurture, distribute or educate?

In this design sprint we aim to open the vocabulary and translate regeneration into activated design processes that probe a more inclusive approaches and radical practices in taking the other in the process and co-create a world that is for all species, and a language that is accessible for humans.



As co-researchers, we will work on a 1-month design sprint in October and use the design sprint to develop a living lexicon for a regenerative world. 

Each co-researcher will respond to provocations through probing and action learning. And as a group we will explore the dimensions, processes and activated relations in regenerative design.

The design sprint is built up through the weeks, zooming into different topics that concern regeneration. All participating co-researchers will develop place-based, active probes aimed at exploring new lived vocabularies that contribute to the inclusion and activation of regenerative societies. This will extend regenerative actions beyond the design ‘bubble’ and activate processes that foster sharing, reciprocity, and deep listening within the communities we are part of.