With the goal of propelling a sustainable future, the research venture will promote interdisciplinary, research-informed action to tackle urgent environmental and societal challenges that transcend national borders.
Professor Tim Marshall, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of RMIT’s College of Design and Social Context said moving to global or ‘planetary-scale’ thinking is vital if we are to creatively and equitably address the challenges at hand.
“The environmental, societal and technological disruption we are witnessing today is inherently planetary in nature,” he said.
“Planetary-scale thinking is about acknowledging the mutual reliance and interdependence between humanity and the earth’s living systems, and the artificial intelligence systems that are being rapidly developed.”
The partnership will see the launch of the Planetary Civics Initiative which will bring together interdisciplinary and international researchers, creative practitioners and industry professionals to explore these issues, united by the goal to shift thinking, dialogue, practice and public policy from the national to the planetary.
“The Planetary Civics Initiative is a call to action in recognition that the current governance systems and policies in place are not sufficient for a sustainable future and require radical yet practical redesign to meet the scale and scope of our challenges,” Marshall said.
Initial projects
The initiative will launch with two projects already underway: Planetary Papers and Design Research Studios.
The Planetary Papers series will consist of commissioned interviews and commentary from leading international experts across a range of professional disciplines, perspectives and backgrounds.
First in the series are contributions from architect and Founding Director of Dark Matter Labs (Dm), Indy Johar, who will take up the role of Professor of Practice at RMIT in November.
Research and provocations documented in the Planetary Papers will inform topics of focus for the Design Research Studios.
Using design-led methods, each Design Research Studio will provide a site for collaborators from different disciplines to speculate on and develop possible futures for real-world challenges.
The first three Studios are focused on transforming fashion systems, led by Professor Alice Payne, RMIT Dean of Fashion & Textiles; regenerative design practice led by Professor Andrea Siodmok OBE, RMIT Dean of Design; and radical design ecologies with a focus on river networks, led by Professor Julia Gaimster, Dean of Communication & Design at RMIT Vietnam.
