Cohort 2024
Anouska Anquetil
Louise McArthur
James Harlow
Sofie Keller
Samy Kimberley
Tom Longmate
Chaoyi Lu
Sarah Muir-Smith
Lola Odumosu
Daniel Penuzzi
Gabriella Rhodes
Lesley Roberts
Simone Suss
Cohort 2023
Quoi Alexander
Bonnie Carr
Susanna-Mei Casuncad
Marcell Csillag
Olga Glagoleva
Mark Hester
Lucy Mitchell
Maki Obara
Sherry Perrault
Ines Quinones Fabregas
Kristen Robb
Charlie Whinney
Tom Whiteley
Cohort 2022
Francesca Baur
Laura Middlehurst
Hannah Ogahara
Alyson Tobin
Ikki Kawanishi
Danielle Statham
Karoline Von Igel
Charline Lalanne
Bruna Cerasi
Why study MA Regenerative Design?
Name, location, background
Quoï, Paris/Normandie, Fashion and Textile Design
Why did you choose to study with MARD?
After graduating from Womenswear at Central Saint Martins, I worked in the industry during 10 years, created my own brand, and worked as an artistic director for other brands. I used only deadstock fabrics which led to a lot of interesting opportunities as textile waste is a huge problem. However during my time in the fashion industry in Paris, I kept a strong curiosity to find better ways to create. When I learned about the MARD program it made perfect sense with my understanding of where I should go with my work. Through MARD I have been able to have a more complete view of the complexities of our roles as designers.
How would you capture MARD?
MARD is a fantastic way to feed curiosity. It's a network of people who are bringing innovative approaches to the future of design. MARD is suited for people who know that it is essential that the creative industries change in drastic ways. For me, MARD helps designers to enhance their approaches, beginning with the building blocks of raw materials within complex living systems of ecology, anthropology and design.
Name, location, background
Bruna, São Paulo, Brazil, background Graphic and Service Design
Why did you choose to study with MARD?
I was looking for a course that went beyond sustainability, that would dialogue with ancestral knowledge and anthropology and, at the same time, was able to connect it to the design methodology, in a way that we could find ways throughout the course to co-create tangible solutions, adaptable to the real world.
How would you capture MARD?
The course awakened in me a new look at nature and at thinking new ways to dialogue with it, deepening in formats of co-creation with the ecosystem around us and with multidisciplinary themes within design. It has been challenging to understand how to rethink formats of human ecosystem collaboration in such a complex system we live in. By understanding a bit more of the ecology side it has been eye-opening to see so much intelligence already exists in such complex living non-human ecosystems and how things are intertwined in nature as well as to acknowledge the fact that we know so little from it.
Name, location, background
Inés. Madrid. Fashion Design
Why did you choose to study with MARD?
After more than 15 years in the fashion industry collaborating with many different companies and organizations, I was eager to find ways in which I could give more, rather than just taking. I searched for courses but none of them seemed to offer something radically different nor did they seem to really deepen to tap into real issues. I came across MARD and I was instantly drawn to it because of its holistic approach, combining anthropology, design and ecology. As opposed to other courses focusing only on single processes (fabric, production, design...). MARD offers a 360 vision helping students understand what it means to use systems thinking withing the design practice.
How would you capture MARD?
Mard is a course to grow in the right direction. It opens up doors to new ways of working and thinking, challenging "business as usual" with a constructive approach. It is optimistic, provides a wide new set of tools and contacts to be used in your practice that will for sure change the way you see, act and think about the world. It is suited for anyone who feels like they want to have more impact with their practice, for anyone who wants to learn to do things taking into account social and ecological justice, for anyone who wants to challenge the status quo and use their skills to find new and innovative ways to create.
Name, location, background
Charline, Paris, France, Trained architect - R&D
Why did you choose to study with MARD?
After a decade of working as an architect and travelling around the world I was looking for a new path to close the gap between my believes and my practice. I wanted to open my perspectives in multiples ways. The three lenses of ecology, anthropology and design used in regenerative design, combined with multitudes of background and skills were touching, in one course, on my understanding of the complexity of the world.
How would you capture MARD?
MARDness! Which was the name of our first window display. It represent the incredible, sometimes very unsettling journey that we are on. With following the online course I could have never imagined the emotional connection and involvement we developed as community. I think I have grown tremendously in those last two years, as a professional with a better vision of my work, as a person with a lot more awareness of topics like decolonisation, and as a human being trying to bring her respect for Gaïa as a lifelong journey.
Name, location, background
Mark Hester, West Sussex, UK, Industrial Design & Prototyping
Why did you choose to study with MARD?
After 25 years working in industrial design and prototyping I began to feel that the efforts going into being more sustainable were falling far short of what really needs to be achieved. The concept of Regenerative Design with its alchemy of design, ecology and anthropology appealed to me. So, I decided it was time to put some proper time and energy into exploring the subject to see what direction it might take me in. The emphasis on developing eco-literacy, designing for a local biosphere and adopting a multi-species approach is already having a profound impact on how I do things.
How would you capture MARD?
MARD is a living, breathing network of designers and their more-than-human partnerships. It’s such a mind-blowing dynamic to not only engage with other students but also to be introduced to the plants, animals, fungi, rivers and so on that they are all designing with. Everyone is so passionate about finding ways to develop truly regenerative practices it’s a huge privilege to be a part of it all.
Name, Location, Background
Maki J Obara, NYC, Fashion design
Why did you choose to study with MARD?
It was a true 'meant to be' at the 'right timing' for me, it is hard to explain. Simply put, Sustainability is not enough, and I needed a reason to break through that wall. I am a Japanese-American with 25 years of experience in the luxury fashion industry. My focus is currently on what I call Inner-Regenaration, which is a notion that re-examines what it means to be a human in relation to earth by regenerating the person, starting from the inside. Also, hemp is my companion plant. I am exploring the muti-faceted possibilty of this plant to renegerate earth, the system, and I hope to bring the hemp plant back to the people and earth to build a future that all of us deserves.
How would you capture MARD?
Safe-space, healing through the work, community, mind-opening, exciting! My companion plant has opened up my world in general to find my path, but since I started this journey of Regenerative Design, my world has opened up into a deeper realm of psychology and mental health.
Name, location, background
Lucy, UK, Industrial Design
Why did you choose to study with MARD?
After a few years in industry, I was feeling a little uninspired and lost with what to do next. The combination of design with ecology and anthropology in MARD appealed to me and I'm really happy to be learning again. I've loved finding out about the land around me and seeing it from a fresh perspective. My practice as a designer is slowly evolving and I'm learning loads of new skills - from willow weaving to making videos. Through researching the Cambridgeshire Fens, I've attended workshops on paludiculture, cycled to new places and become intrigued by eels! I'm really excited by all the great things happening in the regenerative space and can't wait to see where my design practice takes me next.
How would you capture MARD?
MARD is a lovely community! Everyone is genuinely so nice and passionate about what they do. Working with designers from such different disciplines is really refreshing for me. It's great hearing the other students talk about the context they work in or getting excited about something new - whether it's lizards, wetlands or glow worms. I'd recommend MARD to any designer feeling fed up of greenwashing, curious about regenerative and ready for new creative challenges.
Name, location, background
Susanna, Somerset, Surface Textile Design
Why did you choose to study with MARD?
Recently graduating from my BA I wasn’t sure in which direction I wanted to pursue my design practice. MARD has so far been the perfect incubator to explore emerging themes within my practice. From moss to mud..connection to local landscapes.. MARD nurtures but also challenges and expands my ideas and ways of thinking, pushing me to experience design in new ways from multiple perspectives.
How would you capture MARD?
There is a melting pot of ideas constantly being thought about and reforming, this comes from the multitude of design backgrounds and life experiences we are all from and the study of both ecology and anthropology integrated into the MA. This MA is perfect for those wishing to design for a better future within a supportive learning environment that reflects the title of the course!
Name, Location, Background
Danielle Statham. Australia, Designer & Fibre Producer
Why did you choose to study with MARD? Regeneration is a key focus on many minds globally at present. As much as needing to regenerate the environment we must regenerate ourselves! As designers we must continue to learn and generate a mindset to leave the world a better place for future generations - MARD brings this thought to the foreground and the reason why I chose to study here.
How would you capture MARD?
MARD is for designers who wish to extend the thought process of how we design products better. It opens a creative mind to dig deeper into the roots of how and why we design products and opens opportunities to rethink the process.
Name, Location, Background
Aly, London. Footwear Design
Why did you choose to study with MARD?
For the past few years I have maintained that I wouldn’t want to study a Masters, only if it was in Regenerative Design, but no courses existed until this past year. Though there are lots of sustainability Master’s, I felt that the term “sustainable” was too loaded and that I didn’t want to explore further how to sustain a system that doesn’t serve the long-term good of everyone and everything. Regenerative Design involves actively seeking to create replenishing and positive solutions through a holistic design lens to repair and create a healthier future, which isn’t just a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have in the state of our current world.
How would you capture MARD?
Provoking, Engaging, Re-authoring, Empowering! It has been invigorating to understand the different possibilities within design and the various ways designers are able to make impacts. A challenge has been to think more responsibly to try to consider and plan for different unintended consequences, and to realise how connected all systems are. It has been comforting and engaging to reframe regenerative design as a constant and active practice of learning and doing, rather than it being a singular solution, and to know that we can all create positive change every day in a myriad of ways.
Name, Location, Background
Karoline, Brazilian/German, based in Bali. Womenswear Fashion
Why did you choose to study with MARD?
I came to study MA Regenerative Design, because I deeply long to fulfil a bigger purpose in life, that combines my practice of clothing design to something more meaningful and restorative to our planet. Facing current challenges of disposability, climate change and disconnection to our inner self, I search for a solution to regenerate our connection to more than human species. MARD is as an essential steppingstone and inspiration for my future. Making fashion sustainable is not enough for me anymore. Rather, I believe that radical situations warrant radical solutions in which we can create art with the intention of restoring our ecosystems.
How would you capture MARD?
Provocation, expansion, connection, co-creation. So far, MARD certainly challenged me to think beyond and to deconstruct my normal approach to design. This is exciting, because designing regeneratively for non-humans opens a whole new spectrum of design thinking and inspiration. It requires me to attune with the non-human and really put myself into their perspective. It is an act of losing my human self, to deeply listen and care.