Climate change, peak debt, peak energy: these are all stakes being driven into the body of business as usual.
The days of acting as if infinite growth were possible within a finite system are over.
Where does this leave (interaction) design?
To find out you need to attend my talk on “Experiencing Sustainability” at IxDA in Vancouver 5-8 February.
After Vancouver I’m paying a visit on Saturday 7th to Bainbridge Graduate Institute; it’s a relatively new b-school and the only one I know of whose MBA programme is based explicitly on sustainability. Environmental and social responsibility are the basis of every course. (I first learned about Bainbridge from the three grad students who joined us at Doors 9 in Delhi last year).
On Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 I’m in-and-around Palo Alto. On Monday I’ll be catching up with my friends at Ideo and on the Tuesday I’m hoping to do a half-day workshop with Banny Banerjee who runs the Stanford Joint Program in Design (it serves as a bridge between the d.school and the design program).
Then it’s on to LA where, on Thursday 12 February, together with The Planning Center I’m running a Southern California Sustainable Daily Life workshop.
After that event I’m staying on for a week in Southern California with my daughter, Kate.
No, I don’t expect you to find the above interesting. But I’m publishing my schedule here because my days of flitting over to the West Coast on a whim are over, and I don’t want to appear impolite to anyone I won’t see (or have not yet planned to) on this trip.
2009 is Year 2 of my take-10-percent-fewer-flights-every-year campaign. This will be my first long-haul flight in 17 months and I did, as promised, reduce the number of flights I took in 2008 by 30% compared to 2007.
My main ambition this trip is to find out what kinds of sustainability and design projects between North America, Europa and India are a) important to do; and b) can be undertaken remotely, with a minimum of air travel. If you have strong ideas on that matter, do get in touch.
