Innovation Showcases
Integration of Social Constructionism in a Design Thinking Toolkit: Advancing Transformative Applied Research View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Timo Derriks, Daisy De Ruiter, Charlotte Röhl
Practice-based research conducted by at universities of applied sciences can take multiple forms and adhere to a variety of research paradigms. Although the official requirements, dedicated effort and competence development in doing applied research changes yearly, many degrees still necessitate some type of research attitude and products. More often than not, it seems that these programs teach and assess as if there is only one reality that students need to grasp, operationalize into a research instrument, report findings as objective as possible and discuss them in the light of earlier reviewed literature. Variations to this research paradigm elsewhere in a degree program may result in confused students and sound preparations for their final research product, for example a bachelor thesis. Applied research can (also) be, however, more creative, transformative and innovative, especially when integrated with design thinking. In our innovation studio, we guide students in design thinking. Whilst doing so, students in various steps develop their research competence. To explain students how, why, when and where they actually work on research skills whilst doing design thinking, we use a social constructionism paradigm. The design thinking toolkit that has been created for and used by students in their project processes explicitly address the research involved and how it differs from more traditional approaches in applied research as performed by university of applied sciences students. Social constructionism therefore allows design practitioners to use the research of others as well as acting as researchers themselves.
Edible Futures: Design Activism, Fighting Plant Blindness
Innovation Showcase Margaret Rynning, Lene Utigard, Annette Kriszat
The "Eat Me!" project aims to showcase the abundance of edible plants surrounding us using the plants themselves as a means of communication. Plant blindness, described by Wandersee and Schussler (1999), refers to the tendency of humans to pay little attention to plants in their surroundings and to rank plants lower than animals. This is problematic because we are dependent on plants for our survival. Many wild edible plants are perceived as weeds or simply a green backdrop, which raises an important question: How might we, as communicators, encourage people to care about and actively relate to the plants around them? Through design activism and guerilla communication techniques, the project´s intention is to inspire greater knowledge and understanding of the many uses of edible plants in Norway. Our survey indicates that most people have limited knowledge and understanding of plants but are interested in learning more. The "Eat Me!" project has a series of events aimed at raising awareness of local plants, particularly the richness of edible wild plants. By holding recurring "Eat Me!" events, the project can alter and improve its communication activities from event to event. Analysis so far has uncovered that the combination of activities, taste tests, and the researchers' presence at the events are important factors in raising awareness. The "Eat Me!" project aims to enhance our understanding of people's relationship with plants and to sustain Norwegian plant traditions for the future.
