presented at 2019 WDO Research and Education Forum, Hyderabad
The new millennium widened the forms and perception of design as ‘Objects, Communications, Spaces, Events, Services, Systems, Environments, Organisations, Futures’ and associated it with ‘the idea of transformation’ (Ranjan, 2015). This expansion of forms and the idea of transformation is pertinent to the urgency displayed in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, 2015). Be it Responsible Production and Consumption (SDG 12), Sustainable Cities and Communities, or Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG3), the design has a role, agency and ability to critically and constructively address each of the seventeen SDGs poignantly. The author argues that the 'design' needs to be expanded to work in the larger world, with plural world-views, in facilitating the process. The paper elaborates thematic threads, which Design Education (DE) structures and networks can pursue to advance the next paradigm in its pedagogy. This paradigm (or paradigms) will surely be more relatable to the context and localities, and empathetic to the users and the mother earth. Elaborating the threads as critical practice will also allow DE to offer integrated solutions (UNDP, 2019) towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
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