NEW BA IN DESIGN SCHOOL LAUNCHES ‘DESIGN FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE’
We asked Rachel Clarke, newly appointed Course Leader of “Design For Climate Justice” to tell us more about the exciting new BA Course that she has been appointed to lead in the Design School at LCC.
“When I first heard that London College of Communication was starting a new BA (Hons) Design for Climate Justice, I leapt for joy! After squeezing in sustainability and migration research projects into live briefs for undergraduate and postgraduate modules at previous institutions, it felt like the right time to join LCC.
“As course leader for the new BA, I feel really inspired to see how a University is not only taking the climate crisis seriously, but also putting design at the forefront of this ongoing conversation in higher education.”
“There are few design schools putting climate justice so central in the undergraduate curricula. Yet communication design is crucial for climate communication and decision making. The urgency of the crisis, of taking positive collective action, responding to the inequality of climate impacts, these are all communicated across a range of platforms, from social media, broadcast to print media and festivals. Having developed projects for over two decades within environmental and cultural research teams to communicate climate change from soil science to biodiversity loss, migration and indigenous rights, I know how complex it can be.
“LCC is in a great position with a fantastic track record of delivering high impact climate related projects with students and industry partners such as the UN, local government and refugee services.”
This is made possible through schemes such as the Diploma in Professional Studies and our commitment to professional practice within the wider design curriculum to ensure graduates have the relevant skills and mindset to enter the uncertain future that the climate crisis presents.
Students on the new course will learn skills in interpreting and representing climate science, biodiversity loss, global impacts and migration through different modes of visual communication practice, from graphic design to illustration, interaction design to data visualisation, underpinned by core design skills and care. Because if we don’t care for ourselves and each other, then how can we care for wider climate issues?
“Students are demonstrating how they care by telling us they want to make change from within organisations who do not have a good track record for climate aware decision-making and investment. They want jobs that can contribute positively to the climate emergency rather than negatively impacting people and planet.”
Students are therefore asking for curricula that sees climate action and sustainability at its core. Design agencies are also increasingly invited to support governments, third-sector organisations and commercial companies to help understand and communicate their commitments to climate change and justice.
As design educators, many of us have recognised that much of what we were taught in higher education was often out of step with creating more equitable and climate aware futures. We have responded by changing not only the content of what we teach, but how we teach design to include more inclusive, responsible and more-than-human design frameworks. The impacts of climate change on immigration and food supply, employment, health and education are just some of the debates that students and staff are having alongside formal curricula delivery. The course therefore feels very timely. My hope is that we can sow fruitful seeds for new climate design advocates and activists not only in education but in multiple different sectors of industry too.
Dr Rachel Clarke is a design researcher and practitioner who combines visual communication with qualitative research, performance and storytelling on issues of climate change, sustainability and social inequality. She has exhibited work internationally and co-authored research papers across design research, human-computer interaction (HCI), and social sciences. She is currently co-editing a new book, Designing More-than-Human Smart Cities: Beyond Sustainability, Towards Cohabitation with Oxford University Press (forthcoming 2023) and is an advisor for DEFRA’s Futures Advisory Group.