178
D. Fam et al.
and how their designs took into consideration the broader global context of planetary
boundaries and SDGs.
Engaging with the SDGs and Planetary Boundaries in ‘Three Acts’
The engagement of student/researchers with the broader global context was delivered in three Acts.
Act 1 explored how the earth systems which support the emergent property of ‘life’
(Capra 1996) are severely disrupted. Included in the discussion were the concepts of
The Anthropocene (Lewis and Malsin 2015); The Great Acceleration (Steffen et al.
2015); The Tipping Points (Rockstrom et al. 2016); and The Planetary Boundaries
(Rockstrom 2009). As much as possible, the explanation of these concepts included a
specific grounding within the concept of food waste. For example, in discussion of the
Great Acceleration, the social and environmental trends relating to food production
and waste were identified. The Anthropocene identifies significant changes caused
by human activity in the atmosphere, ocean, land and life, including changes in the
Nitrogen cycle. Through use of a mind-map, the specific linkages between changes in
the Nitrogen cycle, and food production/waste were explored. After introducing and
offering examples of the nine planetary boundaries, the student/researchers were then
tasked with making the connection between dealing with food waste and potential
impacts on the planetary boundaries. After the activity, student/researchers were
asked to reflect on:
• To what degree does the food system interact with the planetary boundaries, and
why?
• Why is dealing with food waste important from a planetary perspective?
• How was that exercise helpful (or not) for you as a designer?
• What are the different levels at which designers can engage with the planetary
boundaries?
These reflections highlighted the challenges of engaging design students in what
can be difficult and complex scientific concepts. Future iterations would allow more
time to do this activity.
Act 2 focused on understanding the concept of ‘systemic intervention’. As mentioned above, the purpose of this exercise was to demonstrate that there are many
interwoven causes and effects of food waste within campus, and that designing an
intervention is most effective when the system has been mapped and observed. To
begin mapping the system, students undertook a root cause analysis for the question:
What is driving food waste at UTS? In this analysis, mind maps were created by
asking “why” for all of the different answers to this question, five times. The students were then invited to add these insights to causal loop diagrams they had created
earlier in the semester on the food waste system on campus (e.g. systems thinking
was interwoven through the whole semester).
Students were introduced to Donella’s Meadows notion of leverage points for
change in a system (1999; Abson et al. 2017). We discussed example levers of
change for each of the high-level system characteristics (e.g. parameters, feedbacks,
design, intent). For example, we discussed how ‘the price of food’ is a parameter,
and how this lever for change can influence the food waste system, whereas on the
D. Fam et al.
and how their designs took into consideration the broader global context of planetary
boundaries and SDGs.
Engaging with the SDGs and Planetary Boundaries in ‘Three Acts’
The engagement of student/researchers with the broader global context was delivered in three Acts.
Act 1 explored how the earth systems which support the emergent property of ‘life’
(Capra 1996) are severely disrupted. Included in the discussion were the concepts of
The Anthropocene (Lewis and Malsin 2015); The Great Acceleration (Steffen et al.
2015); The Tipping Points (Rockstrom et al. 2016); and The Planetary Boundaries
(Rockstrom 2009). As much as possible, the explanation of these concepts included a
specific grounding within the concept of food waste. For example, in discussion of the
Great Acceleration, the social and environmental trends relating to food production
and waste were identified. The Anthropocene identifies significant changes caused
by human activity in the atmosphere, ocean, land and life, including changes in the
Nitrogen cycle. Through use of a mind-map, the specific linkages between changes in
the Nitrogen cycle, and food production/waste were explored. After introducing and
offering examples of the nine planetary boundaries, the student/researchers were then
tasked with making the connection between dealing with food waste and potential
impacts on the planetary boundaries. After the activity, student/researchers were
asked to reflect on:
• To what degree does the food system interact with the planetary boundaries, and
why?
• Why is dealing with food waste important from a planetary perspective?
• How was that exercise helpful (or not) for you as a designer?
• What are the different levels at which designers can engage with the planetary
boundaries?
These reflections highlighted the challenges of engaging design students in what
can be difficult and complex scientific concepts. Future iterations would allow more
time to do this activity.
Act 2 focused on understanding the concept of ‘systemic intervention’. As mentioned above, the purpose of this exercise was to demonstrate that there are many
interwoven causes and effects of food waste within campus, and that designing an
intervention is most effective when the system has been mapped and observed. To
begin mapping the system, students undertook a root cause analysis for the question:
What is driving food waste at UTS? In this analysis, mind maps were created by
asking “why” for all of the different answers to this question, five times. The students were then invited to add these insights to causal loop diagrams they had created
earlier in the semester on the food waste system on campus (e.g. systems thinking
was interwoven through the whole semester).
Students were introduced to Donella’s Meadows notion of leverage points for
change in a system (1999; Abson et al. 2017). We discussed example levers of
change for each of the high-level system characteristics (e.g. parameters, feedbacks,
design, intent). For example, we discussed how ‘the price of food’ is a parameter,
and how this lever for change can influence the food waste system, whereas on the