Expanding Engagement
Asynchronous Session
Designing for a Sustainable Future: Empowering Undergraduate Communication Design Students through Pedagogical Practice View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Carla Cadete
This study focuses on a pedagogical approach implemented in an academic context with second-year undergraduate Communication Design students at Porto Lusófona University during the Spring semester of 2021/22. As part of their Communication Design II unit, students had the opportunity to create an environmental awareness campaign for Porto, supported by the Porto City Council. The project centred around citizenship behaviours and sustainable practices: waste reduction and recycling, promoting initiatives to decrease traffic congestion and carbon emissions. The goal was to raise awareness among residents and tourists in Porto about the importance of sustainable practices intended to generate local and global Impact. The creative process used the Design Thinking methodology (problem definition, project ideation, prototyping and implementation). The paper is structured into four main parts: Introduction, Literature Review, Work Methodology, and Conclusion. This Pedagogical Practice has demonstrated preparing Design students to use their skills to promote positive societal changes. It empowered them with a strong sense of purpose, social relevance, and the ability to contribute to a sustainable and innovative future. Additionally, the opportunity to showcase their work in the city added practical value to their academic efforts and enhanced the quality of their portfolios. They became motivated to identify opportunities, take initiative, and become agents of transformation. Instilling responsibility and ethics equipped them to become conscientious designers capable of making a significant positive difference through their creative solutions.
Featured Smart City or Smart Home: Examples of Movies and TV Series View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Arda Çalışkan, Belinda Torus
Combining the ideas of smart homes and sustainable cities provides a futuristic perspective on urban living. Smart homes, which include systems that manage various aspects of domestic life, have transitioned from fiction to reality. These systems optimize illumination, heating, security, and entertainment, resulting in increased resident comfort, safety, and convenience. Meanwhile, the sustainable city paradigm aims for eco-aware urbanization by combining technology and ecology. Using 18 diverse films and television series as inspiration, this study examines the intersection of these concepts and offers insights into a future in which smart residences are an integral part of sustainable urban environments. Important to this exploration is the discovery that, while these narratives primarily emphasize service and security functionalities, the urban fabric is also affected. Integrating smart home systems into the urban fabric of sustainable cities offers a variety of advantages. Through the incorporation of smart home technologies, sustainable urbanism's fundamental principles of energy efficiency, waste reduction, and enhanced resource management can be enhanced. The combination of user-centric simplicity and sustainable urban living has the potential to significantly alter the urban landscape of the future. Envisioning this symbiotic relationship, the future urban environment is poised to integrate smart homes seamlessly, optimizing resource utilization and enhancing citizen experiences. This study traces the evolution of smart homes from science fiction to pragmatic reality and highlights their confluence with the ethos of sustainable cities, propelling humanity toward a future in which technology, environment, and lifestyle cohere in harmony.
Enhancing a Sense of Community Through Urban Design: A Case Study of Hilo, Hawaii View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Derya Zulal Ugurlu
This research investigates the intricate interplay between economic and cultural structures, explicitly focusing on transforming public spaces in Hilo, Hawaii, following its annexation into the United States. The primary aim is to cultivate a sense of community among the city's diverse population by establishing a shared language and strengthening community bonds. Utilizing a comprehensive approach that incorporates both oral and visual documentation for data collection and analysis, the study examines how the Country of Hawaii, originally an isolated settlement, experienced a demographic shift with the arrival of foreign settlers. Selected exemplary public spaces in Hilo showcase dynamic, community-oriented designs that celebrate cultural diversity and encourage adaptability, aiming to foster a sense of community. Findings illuminate the historical transformation of Hawaii, including the decline in the native Hawaiian population and alterations in socio-cultural dynamics, significantly impacting public space structure and usage. Additionally, the study explores cultural dimensions proposed by Hofstede, highlighting behavioural distinctions between Americans and Hawaiians and how national culture influences user behaviour. In conclusion, this research underscores the bidirectional relationship between behaviour and culture, as manifested through urban design, emphasizing the pivotal role of public spaces in fostering a sense of community, nurturing a shared language, and enhancing social cohesion.
Fluidity in Education - a Visionary Approach to Interdisciplinary Learning: Visualizing Congenital Heart Disease through the Lens of Transformative Design Education View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jennifer Duby
This paper intricately explores the intersection of interdisciplinary education, liminality, and the transformative process, employing the poignant case study "Visualizing Congenital Heart Disease" as a central lens. Focused on mitigating anxiety during the critical transition from pediatric to adult care, the study orchestrates a collaboration between design students, cardiologists, and patients facilitating life-saving knowledge transfer. Within this dynamic framework, the roles of students, healthcare professionals, and patients undergo a profound evolution, casting a spotlight on the collaborative creation of knowledge. Embracing the concept of transdisciplinarity, the study goes beyond traditional educational boundaries, advocating for a visionary future marked by work-integrated learning. This vision is anchored in the deliberate harnessing of interdisciplinary collaboration and the inherent dynamism of the third space. As this research unfolds, it envisions a revolutionary shift in educational paradigms—a future where knowledge and practices are not merely transmitted but co-created, fostering innovation and transformative approaches. By championing interdisciplinary cooperation and embracing the fluid nature of the third space, this study anticipates a transformative landscape where education becomes a catalyst for co-created knowledge and practices that transcend traditional boundaries.
Reclaiming Public Spaces: A Case Study from Lympia-Cyprus View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Pavlina Platonos, Anna Merry
The research presents a paradigm in the village of Lympia (Cyprus), bordering the buffer zone, where over the last three years residents have begun to reclaim their public spaces, adding colour and energy through artistic interventions. Without any warning on social media, residents gathered at project sites and spread the word of the interventions by word of mouth. To date, every project outing has turned into a street party, uniting the community and promoting respect towards public spaces. The aim of this study is to understand the changing role of public spaces in the growing pace of the 21st century, with almost all operations going electronic/digital, and where interpersonal relationships have begun to erode. Society has become alienated and values such as mutual help, coexistence, socialization, selfless giving, and respect seem to be disappearing concepts. When the act of social interaction declines, our social bonds become increasingly impersonal, eventually reducing our skills and methods of communication. Through the demonstrated projects this presentation shows how a back to basics approach to participatory and artistic design revitalized a village and its community, encouraging it to be a center for all as well as a touristic landmark which now invites numerous villages and encourages new economic ventures for the inhabitants.
