Abstract
Atlantic Wonder summer school was launched in 2018 on Madeira island to reflect upon the relationship between design and nature. Led by a team of design educators from the Design Department of University of Madeira, Atlantic Wonder has attracted different design investigators and professionals to meet in Madeira and dialogue with invited international experts in philosophy, art and design, and with local natural scientists. Madeira island has the potential to be a testbed for regenerative innovations toward sustainable transformations. But questions like “How to be independent from external resources on productive and energetic levels? How to reduce waste? How to shift from mass tourism to ecotourism? How to take action against the climate crisis?” will stay unresolved until the lack of dialogue between the sciences that study and deal with local challenges will be bridged. The scientific and technical information should influence and guide the local political and administrative decisions, as well encourage clear and informed social conversations. Instead, the communication of scientific and technical contents is today too complicated for non-experts to understand. Atlantic Wonder assigns to design the role of mediator and translator among the different disciplines, areas of study, and approaches that concern nature. Design can facilitate the building of a common vocabulary and rethink a set of tools for interpreting and understanding nature, that is accessible to non-experts and policy-makers. The paper describes the results from the 2018 and 2019 editions, the planning of the 2020 one, and design of tools bridging communication with natural sciences.
Presenters
Elisa BertolottiAssistant Professor, Art and Design, University of Madeira, Portugal Valentina Vezzani
Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Design, University of Madeira, Portugal
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2020 Special Focus - Advocacy in Design: Engagement, Commitment, and Action
KEYWORDS
Summer School; Nature-Centered Design, Sustainable Transformation, Island as Testbed, Regenerative
