Throwback: REWORLDING Kick-off 2024 - A Catalyst for New Perspectives
Description
Date: October 11, 2024
Location: Hybrid symposium, hosted by UHasselt
The REWORLDING Kick-off Event marked the official start of our doctoral network - and a moment of shared reflection and exchange. With 186 participants joining from across Europe, the symposium brought together all project partners, doctoral candidates, researchers, and students from the ARK Faculty. The event set the tone for REWORLDING’s interdisciplinary journey into participatory design and socio-environmental transformation.
The symposium opened with two keynote lectures that sparked lively discussion and critical thinking:
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dr. Michelle Bastian (University of Edinburgh) presented “Re-weaving Shared Temporalities with Local Ecologies”. She explored how climate change disrupts the seasonal rhythms that connect human and more-than-human worlds. Through the lens of phenology - the study of natural cycles - dr. Bastian invited us to rethink time, ecology, and participation. She challenged extractive modes of citizen science and argued for more empathetic, participatory approaches that honour lived experiences and local ecologies, contributing to ‘more-than-human’ forms of collaboration.
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Studio Plastique (Archibald Godts) followed with “Design as a Tool for Systemic Change”. Their lecture highlighted how design can act as a critical and practical tool to transform the systems underpinning daily life. Moving beyond aesthetics, Studio Plastique examined how designers can engage with supply chains, material flows and infrastructures, encouraging a more reflective, ethical and systemic understanding of making.
Each keynote was followed by mini-lectures and debates led by REWORLDING supervisors and partners, deepening the conversation on participatory design, ecological temporality, and cross-sector collaboration. These exchanges laid the foundation for REWORLDING’s shared commitment to research that connects design, environment and society.
Stay tuned for upcoming events and future reflections as REWORLDING continues to grow.