In this paper, we introduce the concept of counterframes in relation to discourses of sustainability, and elaborate on it in correspondence with participatory design practices. We present our analysis through the lens of the 'new normal' in the wake of the pandemic, to demonstrate and unpack the complex and conflictual nature of emergent frames and counter-frame debates, evident within the field of sustainability. The paper draws on participatory activities and interviews with social movements and grassroots organisations. We present initial reflections on the ways in which design can productively engage with and address counter-frames, as they both fill in and open up spaces for political debate in which new paradigms may be carved out of obsolete discourses and worldviews. A core contribution of paper is a re-articulation of how we understand frames in design and the acknowledgement that any counter-/framing is doing political work.
This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions and the definitive published version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2017.03.002 ; Urbanisation and climate change are urging cities to chart novel paths towards sustainable futures. Many cities are turning to the alluring 'circular economy' (CE) concept to guide this redirection. The CE concept re-imagines how flows of resources moving through economies might be 'closed'. Here, we explore this new 'circular city' agenda by asking: How are cities adopting CE as a strategy?. We found that political leadership, building adaptable future visions, using experimental approaches (such as living labs), developing contextual knowledge about resource use, and engaging with diverse stakeholders to be important. However, we also expose that there is a lack of consensus on what a circular city constitutes and a need to further untangle the how and why of the circular city concept. The research contributes to the field by outlining emergent cases, identifying a set of common policy strategies, conceptualising a circular city and identifying areas for future research.
This is an Open Access Article. It is published by Design Management Academy under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International(CC BY-NC-SA). Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ ; Discussions on design activism generously embrace the activist ethos of designers, but are inconsistent in articulating how design activism makes a difference in relation to the various socially engaged design approaches generated. Committed to critically and transformationally engage with progressive socio-economic and political problems, the activist designer creates forms and situations within social processes. By mapping the fields of knowledge and concepts on which design activism draws, the paper attempts to bring an understanding of what informs Design Activism actions beyond the neoliberal paradigm. Drawing on the emerging discussions on design activism, the paper brings together articulations of design activism from scholars and design collectives to foreground the foundation for a more coherent understanding of design activism and a constructive dialogue within its community.
