This symposium will be an opportunity for participants to prepare a manifesto for the teaching of design to youth. In this symposium, the audience will work in teams to discuss this topic through prompts. The concluding piece will be a position paper for the support of teaching young students about social responsibility, improving the economy, and other essential topics that emerge, through design.
Many designers are addressing the social issues of environmentalism and the emotional and physical welfare of people. Sustainable design, based on less consumptive lifestyles, respect for the environment and the interdependence of life, is an example of this social concern. Architecture, urban planning and product design are immersed in sustainable design. Attention is also being given to universal design, which is the design of products and environments that are (to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialised designs) accessible to all people. One of the most important reasons to teach design to K-12 students is to address socially responsible design.
Many countries are looking at design as a way to produce more marketable products that serve to strengthen economies through competition and increased profits. Many countries have thus placed high value on design. Finland invested US$ 40.9 million in design research, education and promotion for its Design Year 2005, which directly affected that country’s fourth-place rating in global innovation and second-place rating in competitiveness by 2007 (Diamond, 2008). India adopted a national design strategy in 2007 (Diamond, 2008). In 2008, an Industry Canada report determined that design was the essential element to solve that country’s problem with achieving higher productivity. China brought American designer Richard Buchanan to an international conference in 2004, where he offered recommendations for the transition in China from a manufacturer of foreign-designed products to a centre of original design (Buchanan, 2004). In Korea, a financial crisis occurred in 1997, and a conceptual shift that placed design at the centre of competitiveness, and the consequent rise of Korean design firms, is what pulled that country out of the crisis (Cho, 2004).
In this symposium, the audience will work in teams to discuss this topic through prompts. The concluding piece will be a position paper for the support of teaching young students about social responsibility, improving the economy, and other essential topics that emerge, through design.
Timeframe: 1h 30m
Organiser:
Robin Vande Zande , Kent State University, United States of America; rvandeza@kent.edu
Open for registration: 25