Syllabus

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Understand how design can facilitate social change in different socio-economic settings (e.g. institutional, communitarian, work-based, place-based);
• Critically assess the potentials and challenges of different design strategies for social change in particular contexts;
• Plan projects so that the merits and downsides of their different elements, intensities and resources for fostering change are adequately addressed;
• Assess and develop a strategy for social change with a view to both their procedural and creative requirements.

Credits: 6

Schedule: 21.10.2024 - 28.11.2024

Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Guy Julier

Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):

CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):

Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):

Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Design for Social Change - Strategy provides students with a basic understanding and competencies to build design projects aimed towards social change. This course includes understanding the political, policy and societal landscapes in which design for social change practices can occur.   We move from 'big picture' discussion of different approaches to design for social change and design activism, to defining and understanding specific problem spaces. Design for social change and design activism involve developing structures and techniques for intervention that are sensitive to the lifeworlds of stakeholders but, nonetheless, aim at engaging radical change in social and economic relationships. Design methods derived, in part, from social design or social innovation -- such as the theory of change or infrastructuring -- may be explored here. The project emphasis is on developing an understanding of different design for social change and design activist practices and exploring strategies for their implementation in identified contexts. This involves both exploring the elements necessary and relevant for making the project happen in an defined context as well as being open to creative opportunities within them.   The course takes place alongside the Design for Social Change - Co-Design course (MUO-3050) and students are encouraged to take these two courses concurrently.

Assessment Methods and Criteria

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Assignments. Project (undertaken individually, in pairs, or in threes). 100% active attendance, of which 20% can be covered with additional assignments.

Workload

• valid for whole curriculum period:

   Overall workload 6 ects = 162 hrs. Minimum 80% attendance in programmed teaching.

  • Lectures, in-class demonstrations, in-class discussions and in-class work with tutoring: 45hrs
  • Independent studying 53h
  • Time to think 53h
  • Course evaluation 1hr

DETAILS

Study Material

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Provided in MyCourses.

  Indicative course literature:

  1. Escobar, Arturo (2018) Designs for the pluriverse: Radical interdependence, autonomy, and the making of worlds. Duke University Press.
  2. Constanza-Chock, Sasha (2020) Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need. Mass: MIT Press.
  3. Berglund, Eeva (2019) ‘Troubled landscapes of change: Limits and natures in grassroots urbanism’ in Lounela, A., Berglund, E., & Kallinen, T. (eds). Dwelling in Political Landscapes: Contemporary Anthropological Perspectives. Finnish Literature Society: SKS, pp.196-212
  4. Markussen, Thomas (2019) The impure politics of design activism. In Tom Bieling (ed) Design (&) Activism: Perspectives on design as activism and activism as design(pp. 35-46). Mimesis edizioni.
  5. Tonkiss, Fran (2017) Socialising design? From consumption to production. City, 21(6), 872-882.

Substitutes for Courses

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Substitutes for Courses

Prerequisites

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Prerequisites

SDG: Sustainable Development Goals

1 No Poverty

2 Zero Hunger

3 Good Health and Well-being

5 Gender Equality

10 Reduced Inequality

11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

12 Responsible Production and Consumption

13 Climate Action

15 Life on Land

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Information

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Teaching Language: English

  Teaching Period: 2024-2025 Autumn II
  2025-2026 Autumn II

  Registration:

  Registration in Sisu. Minimum 15 students, maximum 30 students.

  Order of priority:

  1. CoID students;
  2. IDBM, CoDe and CS students;
  3. Other Aalto Master's students, including exchange students.

  Priority order to courses is according to the order of priority decided by the Academic committee for School of Arts, Design and Architecture, https//www.aalto.fi/en/services/registering-to-courses-and-the-order-of-priority-at-aalto-arts  

Description