Social Relations – Transition Design Seminar CMU

Transition Design argues that living in and through transitional times calls for self-reflection and ‘new ways of being’ in the world in order to act as a catalyst for societal transition. This will call for self-reflection and learning which lead to new mindsets and postures.

Therefore understanding power dynamics and mapping the ways in which they manifest in a system (wicked problem) and among stakeholder groups is crucial to problem resolution.

Transition Design seeks to address these power imbalances by building capacity and empowerment for some groups, while addressing issues of privilege, entitlement, and even ignorance with others. In many cases, certain stakeholder groups (such as those who are disenfranchised for some reason or those who are non-human). These groups will require adv... See more

Identifies and considers all stakeholder groups: Understanding and addressing the social roots of a wicked problem demands that all stakeholder groups are identified and their concerns integrated into the problem frame.

Relations of affinity can be immediately leveraged in the co-creation of visions, projects, initiatives and other types of interventions. These early, tangible steps can yield positive, mutually beneficial outcomes which help establish trust and bridge the divides in areas in which they disagree.

Fairness/Cheating; Care/Harm; Authority/Subversion; Loyalty/Betrayal; Sanctity/Degradation; Liberty/Oppression. We become polarized from each other when our moral foundations are too different from one another.

Stakeholder relations of conflict and opposition always require the greatest investment of time and energy to resolve, but relations of affinity, agreement and alignment (that are always present) often go unseen and acknowledged. Transition Design argues that relations of affinity and alignment are the “low hanging fruit” in a system and show us wh... See more

This new, emerging paradigm emphasizes empathy, relationship, participation and self-organization, calls for new mindsets and postures of openness, speculation, mindfulness and a willingness to collaborate.

1) Design’s strong relationship to the consumer-led marketplace has increasingly come to define designers’ role and potential; 2) the imperative to think and design in ever shorter horizons of time (time = money) and produce quick results encourages the de-contextualization of problems (all stakeholders are not served, social and environmental sust... See more