SLOW DESIGN DRIVEN INNOVATION: DEVELOPING A BUSINESS MODEL FOR GLOCALISED ENTERPRISES
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: School of Management
Abstract
Our globalised models of production and distribution, coupled with a culture of overconsumption has led to a system that is not sustainable. This system has been responsible for climate change, biodiversity loss, natural resource degradation, ethical issues, poverty, excess waste generation, inefficient energy use, and increased the vulnerability of many developing communities in which these globalised products are manufactured. Measures must be taken to reduce these polluting and unethical practices that negatively impact on environment and society, and to work towards sustainable production and consumption.
Slow design driven innovation is a potential solution to this problem. Slow design aims at reducing the exploitation of natural and human resources, celebrating their value, and increasing the lifespans of products based on quality and local traditions, in addition to outlining a model of alternative responsible consumption which confronts the current paradigm of "more and cheaper is better". "Slow" design enterprises are socially innovative because they are addressing social problems, but currently they lack appropriate business models that sustain organisational functions, support hybridity, empower stakeholders and take into consideration the social and environmental contributions that these businesses make. To date, business model literature has been designed to satisfy a market-oriented ambition, rather than to address societal issues.
In response, this ESRC project will develop "glocalised" "slow business models", and theorise the design and innovation practices that will reduce the exploitation of natural and human resources, whilst increasing product lifespans and driving innovation based on quality, local traditions, and sustainable values. This research will make a significant impact by proposing research-informed business models for UK enterprises, demonstrating to SMEs how to adopt sustainable solutions, and craft-organisations how to glocally compete. I will work with the craft councils and the network of small enterprises in Midlands to disseminate results and present the findings to ad-hoc workshops for SMEs and craft enterprises in UK and Vietnam. After the interactions, I will ask for feedbacks and organise short interviewees on what policies/regulations might be needed to put in place to facilitate and encourage the adoption of a sustainable design driven innovation, in order to produce policy which will positively impact on the adoption of sustainable innovation.
Slow design driven innovation is a potential solution to this problem. Slow design aims at reducing the exploitation of natural and human resources, celebrating their value, and increasing the lifespans of products based on quality and local traditions, in addition to outlining a model of alternative responsible consumption which confronts the current paradigm of "more and cheaper is better". "Slow" design enterprises are socially innovative because they are addressing social problems, but currently they lack appropriate business models that sustain organisational functions, support hybridity, empower stakeholders and take into consideration the social and environmental contributions that these businesses make. To date, business model literature has been designed to satisfy a market-oriented ambition, rather than to address societal issues.
In response, this ESRC project will develop "glocalised" "slow business models", and theorise the design and innovation practices that will reduce the exploitation of natural and human resources, whilst increasing product lifespans and driving innovation based on quality, local traditions, and sustainable values. This research will make a significant impact by proposing research-informed business models for UK enterprises, demonstrating to SMEs how to adopt sustainable solutions, and craft-organisations how to glocally compete. I will work with the craft councils and the network of small enterprises in Midlands to disseminate results and present the findings to ad-hoc workshops for SMEs and craft enterprises in UK and Vietnam. After the interactions, I will ask for feedbacks and organise short interviewees on what policies/regulations might be needed to put in place to facilitate and encourage the adoption of a sustainable design driven innovation, in order to produce policy which will positively impact on the adoption of sustainable innovation.
Planned Impact
This research will directly impact Vietnamese slow design groups who have self-identified as lacking appropriate business models which encompass the values which their industries promote. Discussions with stakeholders on the ground have reinforced this issue, and specific challenges have been identified which this the business models developed by this project will solve (including difficulty in appropriate strategy development, lack of access to finance, problems in quantifying success using conventional metrics, others). Thus this project will directly benefit these groups. The primary benefits however will be to the UK through the development, exchange, and dissemination of the slow design concepts and associated business models. These benefits are outlined below.
In November 2017, the UK government published the UK's new Industrial strategy. One of the grand challenges proposed in this industrial strategy is to foster Clean Growth, which includes sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in business, environmental accounting, supply chains, and alternative business models. The slow design driven innovation concept at the heart of this project cuts across all of these themes. By adopting slow design driven innovations, UK companies will be able to support their growth and at the same time change the production process by creating meaningful environmentally and ethically sustainable products, preferring the use of local resources to reduce not only the environmental impact, but also to preserve local heritage endangered by globalisation and the uncertainty of accessing resources after Brexit. To make the most of this opportunity will require alternative business models that align with these "slow" values.
These innovations are particularly well suited to SMEs. This is critical, as in the UK, according to the Federation of Small Business, there are 5.5 million SMEs, employing 24.3m people and accounting for 60% of employment and 50% of total private business revenue. Critically, whilst these SMEs are the core of UK industry, their future successful growth depends on continued innovation in financial tools and new business models (The Economist, (16/12/2016), specifically what this project is designed to achieve.
These innovative business models are also of particular importance to the creative industries, which themselves are one of the biggest contributors to the UK economy. A subset of these, craft, contributes £3.4bn to the UK economy each year, and it is considered a site of disruptive innovation. As stated in the governmental report on the craft sector, craft enterprises also contribute to economic growth in sectors such as manufacturing, driving innovation in products and processes through their knowledge of materials. Their particular understanding of how people relate to material qualities and objects, in both a functional and emotional sense, informs distinctive contributions in fields as diverse as healthcare and cultural tourism and also in more directly commercial markets such as luxury. UK craft makers are renowned for their innovation in the process and in the technology. According to recent reports, it employs 88,250 people in the UK (13% of all those employed in the UK's creative industries) and contributes 12% of the creative industries sector's. These organisations will directly benefit from the new business models developed from this project, drawn from resurgent glocalised Craft industries in Vietnam.
In November 2017, the UK government published the UK's new Industrial strategy. One of the grand challenges proposed in this industrial strategy is to foster Clean Growth, which includes sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in business, environmental accounting, supply chains, and alternative business models. The slow design driven innovation concept at the heart of this project cuts across all of these themes. By adopting slow design driven innovations, UK companies will be able to support their growth and at the same time change the production process by creating meaningful environmentally and ethically sustainable products, preferring the use of local resources to reduce not only the environmental impact, but also to preserve local heritage endangered by globalisation and the uncertainty of accessing resources after Brexit. To make the most of this opportunity will require alternative business models that align with these "slow" values.
These innovations are particularly well suited to SMEs. This is critical, as in the UK, according to the Federation of Small Business, there are 5.5 million SMEs, employing 24.3m people and accounting for 60% of employment and 50% of total private business revenue. Critically, whilst these SMEs are the core of UK industry, their future successful growth depends on continued innovation in financial tools and new business models (The Economist, (16/12/2016), specifically what this project is designed to achieve.
These innovative business models are also of particular importance to the creative industries, which themselves are one of the biggest contributors to the UK economy. A subset of these, craft, contributes £3.4bn to the UK economy each year, and it is considered a site of disruptive innovation. As stated in the governmental report on the craft sector, craft enterprises also contribute to economic growth in sectors such as manufacturing, driving innovation in products and processes through their knowledge of materials. Their particular understanding of how people relate to material qualities and objects, in both a functional and emotional sense, informs distinctive contributions in fields as diverse as healthcare and cultural tourism and also in more directly commercial markets such as luxury. UK craft makers are renowned for their innovation in the process and in the technology. According to recent reports, it employs 88,250 people in the UK (13% of all those employed in the UK's creative industries) and contributes 12% of the creative industries sector's. These organisations will directly benefit from the new business models developed from this project, drawn from resurgent glocalised Craft industries in Vietnam.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Marta Gasparin (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Gasparin M
(2020)
The Business School in the Anthropocene: Parasite Logic and Pataphysical Reasoning for a Working Earth
in Academy of Management Learning & Education
Gasparin M
(2020)
Designing regional innovation systems in transitional economies: A creative ecosystem approach
in Growth and Change
Gasparin M
(2020)
The INCITE model of policy development for the creative industries: the case of Vietnam
in Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies
Gasparin M
(2019)
Reflections on the epistemology of design: a Simondonian analysis
in Reflective Practice
Gasparin M
(2022)
Organizing Tekhne : Configuring processes and politics through craft
in Organization Studies
Gasparin M
(2022)
Stories of value: Business model innovation adding value propositions articulated by Slow Storytelling
in Journal of Business Research
Gasparin M
(2020)
Slow design-driven innovation: A response to our future in the Anthropocene epoch
in Creativity and Innovation Management
Gasparin M
(2021)
Business as unusual: A business model for social innovation
in Journal of Business Research
Schinckus C
(2019)
For the love of green: Between ecology and dollars
in The Anthropocene Review
| Title | Kh?i - from the 2018 London Design Biennale, showcased in Hanoi in March 2020 |
| Description | this is an exhibition that was created for the London Design Biennale and re-proposed in Hanoi. The exhibition in Hanoi was updated with elements of slow design, and the exhibition catalogue was inspired by the research on slow design. This is the description that the curator of the art work described: The Vietnam pavillion was the only research led and non-profit installation featured in the 2018 Biennale. This exhibition was built on the research conducted by the INCITE group, particularly the emerging research focused on slow design-driven innovation in transitional economies. The INCITE research group focuses on design, innovation and creativity in economies that are transitioning to creative economies. INCITE research design, innovation and creativity to revitalise underdeveloped areas, and how communities are innovatively reacting to unfavourable conditions by creating economic, social and cultural values. Their research on slow design challenges the current models of production and distribution that have stimulated a culture of overconsumption. This culture is not sustainable and it has contributed to climate change, biodiversity loss, natural resource degradation, ethical issues, poverty, waste, excessive and inefficient energy use and increased the vulnerability of many Developing Nations communities in which the globalised products are manufactured. INCITE believes measures must be taken, slow design-driven innovation answers this challenge and are answers this challenge and are investigating new business models at the time of the Anthropocene. The following excerpts have been extracted and edited from papers written by Dr Marta Gasparin and supported by Dr William Green and Dr Christophe Shinckus. What is Slow Design Innovation? Slow Design Innovation responds to our failing globalised models of production and distribution, that have resulted in a culture of overconsumption, an economic system that is not sustainable, and, of grave concern, is anthropogenically endangering planetary sustainability. The current system is responsible for climate change, biodiversity loss, natural resource degradation, ethical issues, and increased the vulnerability of many developing communities. Recent research on business model innovation, ecosystems and platforms have underlined the variety of configurations, roles and strategic positioning in contemporary industry but also the need for ecosystems to evolve to address contemporary common threats such as climate change and environmental issues. What impact can Slow Design have? As a response to the failure of these current global systems INCITE have conducted ethnographic studies among designers in Vietnam to understand their design processes. Slow Design Innovation proposes an alternative economic system which responds to current practices that negatively impact on environment and society. The aim of Slow Design Innovation is to have a process that produces high-quality new products and services and at the same time reduces the exploitation of natural and human resources, celebrates their value, and increases the lifespan of products based on quality and local traditions, which confronts the current paradigm of "more and cheaper is better". Slow Design - Organising Nature Through Technologies of Craft The role of cutting edge, hi-tech innovations in organisations is a common topic for research. Alongside these studies, there has been a more muted development of writing on the role of mundane material things in ordinary, everyday and pervasive forms of organising. INCITE's research argues that these mundane matters, are increasingly central to concerns over sustainability and they have been central to our ethnographic research in a remote village in Vietnam. Here craft and its mundane technologies play an important role in organising nature. With the significant and immediate threat posed by climate change as a pressing backdrop, INCITE's research aims to investigate: how can the organisation of mundane material things and organisation through mundane material things change in order for nature to be organised? INCITE explores the mundane material things involved in craft work, set against the rapid destruction of nature in Vietnam. The sustainable craft work that INCITE's research explores, sits in the shadow of rapid and large scale transformation of the environment. Vietnam is interesting because it operates as a nexus for rapid change and questions of sustainability that emerge through concerns for development-at-speed. Not only a location for traditional, arguably sustainable, craft enterprises. This nexus of change, destruction and sustainability provides a coherent geographical location for witnessing struggles over mundane and pervasive material things that raise startling questions for the future of the planet. Amongst this rapid transformation craft skills are re-emerging as a way to define identity, culture and aspirations. What is required to sustain craft, and to sustain the environmental practices are different means to organise nature. Distribution of smaller scale needs to take shape, designers researched think that this can be achieved by takintraditional Vietnamese craft work to the world. The designers must act as pioneers of sustainability and use careful agricultural practices, craft skills, and small scale production to recruit new audiences; to go and talk about, write about, set demands for and make orders for craft workers' produce. They must take the nature of craft work to the world. This is not a marketing gimmick, an empty gesture to reassure the environmental concerns of mass consumers. The craft skills and tools are reliable material witnesses, carrying with them and speaking of their natural location, their Vietnamese roots. The nature they represent (of sustainable craft work and its careful agriculture) has been re-organised: it now begins to operate in new locations, among new audiences on a global stage. So the scales begin tip somewhat. Their balance shifts. In place of the demarcation between the global flows of capital that underpin the rapid and huge material saturation of the environment through tourism on one side and the small, mundane, local, marginalised craft workers on the other, a new demarcation is appearing. On the one side, traditional craft as representative of a sustainable future in which we all ought to have a stake - with new supporters recruited among journalists and designers - and on the other, a rampant and irresponsible capitalism that we ought to avoid. The designers, the craft workers, their tools and their process are making moves. They are shifting cosmopolitics through their re-organisation of nature. In Hanoi, the theme of the presentation has been around slow design. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | It was very appreciated in Uzbekistan and it is currently used as an example for the British Council Crafting Futures. exhibition in Hanoi |
| URL | https://www.thisisvietnam.design |
| Title | the Anthropocene Square metre |
| Description | We are in a new geological Hera and the scale of this change is not yet predicable. Carbon emissions are a key determinant of global temperature, sea level, ocean oxygenation state and acidity, and hence of the biosphere; the carbon dioxide factor has a long track record of causing planetary change, and the current trajectory is at the extreme end of things. Then (among many other factors), there are all those human-made novelties, such as the evolution of the elaborately engineered, energy-hungry technology that keeps us alive. The technosphere, it has been called. It is an offshoot of the biosphere, and is showing signs of taking on a life of its own or, in the language of science, of acting as an emergent system with its own dynamics. Geologically, the Earth is still in a rapidly evolving transitional phase towards whatever it will end up becoming, centuries and millennia and, yes, millions of years from now. We are living on the cusp of change. Given the rate of change, and the likely extent of the difference between the Earth states before and after - another geological analogy comes to mind. The next generation, on current trends will see them well on their way to disappearance through acidification, warming, over-fishing and pollution. This is a large, abrupt geological change that we happen to be in the middle of (and that, in theory, we still have some control over). The Anthropocene's significance is cosmic, because we know our planet, in possessing complex life, is a rarity in the Universe that is likely in many senses to be truly unique. Contemplation of three thousand generations of human history into the future does not come naturally to a species designed for life as a hunter-gatherer, nor does the idea that a computer, or a car, or a bullet, is in essence a geological object. How may this affect the Earth itself, though? We hold different personal perspectives on time, space and process. These are represented in the Anthropocene Square metre. A square metre of the Earth represents in microcosm the human-driven changes to the surface of our planet. The Earth as a whole has an area, land surface and sea floor combined, of some 510 million kilometres. In metres that is therefore 510 trillion - or 510 000 000 000 000 - square metres. Selecting just one of those square metres, as planetary representative, we can then take the ingredients of our constructions, and put them on to our square metre in approximate proportion to their amount on the whole Earth. That, then, might give an idea of how much the Earth has changed. Our bulk components are a little more than half is the material we have assembled into our towns and cities, and most of that is the rubble and reworked rock and soil upon which their foundations are built. A little under a third comprises the soils of our croplands and pastures, now subsumed as part of our life support system. A little under a tenth is the submarine soils that we plough through sea floor trawling: wet sea floor mud, churned over, and depleted both in clay (that, disturbed by the trawling, has drifted off to the deep ocean floor). Small chips of rock and dirt, tiny wood fragments and puddles of water can represent our mine and quarry waste, roads and railways, by plantations and reservoirs (both water and sediment). |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | Displayed at the university and in the city centre to raise awareness on climate change |
| Description | Slow design-driven organisations are producing innovative products and translating the heritage and history of the communities into new products that customers would love and care for. The products are long-lasting, high quality and created using local organic raw materials, collected and processed in such a way that is not impacting negatively on the environment. During the design process, slow designers are investing in communicating to the end-users the importance of the territory, heritage, consideration of environmental impact, and the reuse of objects. At the same time, through the production of slow products, designers are working to rebuild and rediscover the local identity of culture and heritage, which can be challenging to bring to the forefront of discussion due to the challenging past and isolation of rural communities. I have created a design-driven innovation process that supports their development. Investigating these approaches in more detail allowed us to uncover the degree to which the concept of the "slow" movement is embedded in the design processes and among communities. Slow design-driven organizations are producing innovative products and translating the heritage and history of the communities into new products that customers would love and care for. The products are long-lasting, high quality and created using local organic raw materials, collected and processed in such a way that is not impacting negatively on the biosphere. During the design process, slow designers are investing in communicating to the end-users the importance of the territory, heritage, consideration of environmental impact, and the reuse of objects. At the same time, through the production of slow products, designers are working to rebuild and rediscover the local identity of Vietnamese culture and heritage, which can be challenging to bring to the forefront of discussion due to the colonial past and isolation of ethnic minorities. In contrast to global companies, slow designers are not asking the workers in the supply chain to simply manufacture the raw materials and deliver them. Instead, women (who represent most of the workers) are empowered because they become part of a design process and co-create the products by mobilizing their heritage and knowledge in the various materials, their history, and local cultures to design new meaningful products that interest the customers, as these products embed a story told through the products' features. Building on this practice, we suggest that the "Slow Design-Driven approach" could become the new "business as usual" at this time of the Anthropocene. Conceptually, we advance the theory of design-driven innovation (DDI) by bringing together the concepts from the Slow Food movement and DDI, coining the term "Slow Design-Driven Innovation". The Slow Design-Driven process consists of four actions: envisaging the heritage and the history of a community in order to translate them into contemporary products; featuring the biodiversity of the place in the product; transferring traditional techniques into processes for creating long-lasting quality innovative products; and narrating a story about the products and their makers in order to interest the customers and encourage them to care about these stories. Empirically, I establish that slow DDI provides an avenue for creativity and innovation management scholars to propose solutions to address the climate emergency, and to promote and disseminate concepts of sustainability and sustainable production. Slow design-driven organizations invest in communicating to the end-users through storytelling the importance of the biosphere and heritage, and also the importance of reducing the environmental impact of innovation at this time of the Anthropocene. Managerially, I outline a model of alternative responsible production which confronts and questions current practices in today's climate crisis, perpetuated by globalization. A slow approach to innovation is intended to connect innovation to local sources, with lifestyles that are ethical and sustainable. These approaches will be disseminated in Uzbekistan |
| Exploitation Route | The models of business and the innovation process for the slow designers In particular: The Slow design concept has been proven very interesting in Uzbekistan, and I have been asked to write a notebook, glossary and provide training. I will also take part in a roundtable for policy change in March 2020 in Uzbekistan. The countries that will be influenced by the award, so far, will be Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Kazakistan. I will become member also of the Asean Association and I will work to make an impact in Indonesia and Malaysia. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy |
| URL | http://slowdesign.info |
| Description | British Council Nepal: Craft and Climate Change |
| Amount | £16,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Leicester |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2021 |
| End | 08/2023 |
| Description | Crafting Futures in Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kazakistan and Kyrgyzstan) |
| Amount | £55,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2020 |
| End | 05/2020 |
| Description | Designing Digital Sustainable Futures: Crafting through COVID-19 crisis |
| Amount | £149,999 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AH/V006657/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2020 |
| End | 07/2021 |
| Description | Urgency fund: COVID-19 focussed research proposals |
| Amount | £36,820 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | Urgency fund: COVID-19 focussed research proposals |
| Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
| Department | Global Challenges Research Fund |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2020 |
| End | 12/2020 |
| Description | Partnership with the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City |
| Organisation | University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City |
| Country | Viet Nam |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I contacted the university of Economics of Ho Chi Minh City during the research proposal writing stage in order to seek for feedbacks and discuss with them the research interest. I presented a paper and we did a workshop on research capacity building. This was highly successful, and we organised a publishing workshop in September 2019, funded by the British Academy writing workshop fund. In November 2019, the partners came to Leicester and it resulted in a wider MOU with my institution. We will work on capacity building in research and in particular in qualitative research skills and design and innovation management skills |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partner will be crucial to support me in field access and housing, collaborating in writing papers of Vietnam's climate change. We are currently working on a project on climate change in the Mekong area, and how this has been affecting the craft of the ethnic minorities |
| Impact | British Academy Funding |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | General Public presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Around 50 people participated at the event at the Old Compass Cafe, in Ho Chi Minh City. This sparked curiosity about slow design and very interesting questions, and asked to create more events like these in the futures. The talk was presented with Prof Williams and Dr Green from the University of Leicester |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2544953189167293&type=3 |
| Description | Presentation for a group of practitioners |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | I have invited one of participants from the fieldwork to come to Leicester Design Season and present the research on slow design through his artwork. The practitioners at the Print workshop Leicester became very interested, and asked to organise a thematic exhibition in 2020 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/events/335155243946807/ |
| Description | Presentation to Policy Makers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | While researchers in the Anthropocene working group are still working to characterize and define the Anthropocene, they have demonstrated clear and fundamental human-driven changes to the Earth System, including the perturbation of the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, to the landscape, and to the biosphere, with long-term geological consequences. Exploring the Anthropocene phenomenon is a matter not just for science. Participation by economics, the social sciences and humanities is critical not only to analyse the causes of changes - that strongly reflect evolving socioeconomic patterns - but also to take meaningful actions to mitigate harmful trends. As the Anthropocene state of the planet intensifies, sparking wider political issues, public debate is ever more crucial. In this event we will present researches on the Anthropocene, actions inspired by slow design that have been adopted in Vietnam, and if fintech could be a solution to climate change problems. Room : A.103, Campus A, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City 13.00: Start Welcome by Prof Su Dinh Thanh (JABES, UEH) Prof Mark William (UoL, Geology): The human impact on the biosphere Dr Marta Gasparin (UoL, ULSB): Slow design Driven Innovation Prof Christopher Schinckus (Taylor's University, Malaysia): Fintech and Anthropocene Provocative reflections on the Anthropocene, Dr William Green 15.00: Q&A 15.30: Ends |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://acbes.ueh.edu.vn/mini-conference/ |
| Description | Public lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The world of business on an Anthropocene Earth On the 3rd-5th June 2019, I have organised a public lecture in which i have presented and launch the research project. At the University, we hosted one of the world's most renowned scholars, Professor Bruno Latour, in a three-day conversation on the Anthropocene, this event inaugurating the newly formed Anthropocene Research Group at Leicester. The research group investigates also the role of slow design at the time of climate change The Anthropocene, a term and concept created by Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen, describes the epoch of geological time during which human actions have had a dramatic effect on the Earth and its ecosystem, on climate and on the very evolution of the strata. While researchers in the international Anthropocene Working Group are still working to characterize and define the Anthropocene, this new Leicester-based group that has been facilitated by the ESRC grant. It is working to address and seek alternatives to the impact that is being caused by human-driven activities - these are driving the Earth System to a new and different planetary state, through perturbation of the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, and landscape and biosphere changes, with long-term geological consequences. That opening was followed by John Palmesino and Steve Brown how architecture and business schools respectively could and should adapt to the new conditions of the Anthropocene. Mark Williams then showed how the world is no longer dominated by natural ecosystems with humans living within these, but rather it is dominated by human systems, enclosing the modified remains of natural ecosystems. Chris Schinckus looked at how financial technology affected the Earth: no longer simply a function provided by financial institutions, the massive, energy-hungry computational power it needs, contributes to climate change. I made the case for slowing down: Inspired by the slow food movement, slow design aims to use local sustainable materials within a local heritage, as an alternative to the fast-paced and destructive ways of most modern business. Daniel Neyland concluded these 'provocations' by reflecting on how business-focussed academics should aim to bring the Anthropocene into their research. Science- and arts-based events followed. Jan Zalasiewicz launched a new book on the Anthropocene, a compilation of a decade's international studies. At a reception (with Slow Pale Ale by Framework Brewery to help proceedings), two artworks were premiered: the Anthropocene Square Metre, a collaboration between Jan Zalasiewicz, the Vietnam-based designer Claire Driscoll, and the French artist Anne-Sophie Milon; and, a map with "100 names for the Anthropocene" by Anne-Sophie Milon and Clémence Hallé. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/geology/news/news-2019/the-world-of-business-on-an-anthropocene-ea... |
| Description | The features of design and innovation in Vietnam |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The event was organised by the British Embassy in Hanoi to present "Education is Great" and "technology is Great". In the booth, prepared in collaboration with Workroom Four looked at the features of design and innovation and interacted with the public on slow design topics |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Walk and talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Part of the Social Festival of Science, funded by the ESRC One of the most striking global climate changes is the expansion of cities and farmland at the expense of natural wilderness. Cities, within which most humans on Earth now live, have altered the biosphere. What happens to soil animals, including the tiny, enigmatic meiofauna, between the open soil of parks and gardens and the walled-off soils beneath the concrete, brick and tarmac of roads and buildings? How do these microscopic worlds of worms and insects relate to the more obvious parts we can see - the urban trees, flowers, birds, butterflies? We will walk through the arboretum discussing with these issues Programme of the day organised by the Anthropocene Research Group and Leicester People University - meeting at Manhattan at 13:430 (34 Rutland St, Leicester LE1 1RD) - minibus for the arboretum leaves at 13:45... OR we meet at 2 at the Arboretum - 1 hour at the arboretum (walk and talk); hot coffee will be served at College Court - return with the minibus to the Manhattan where we will continue with a presentation by Prof David Siveter and Prof Mark Williams |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/climate-change-and-the-city-tickets-64720891930?utm_campaign=new_even... |