Curricular Project
Transition Living Lab
International Collaborative Student Challenge
Lead by: Malé Luján Escalante, Chris Mortimer, Akino Tahir
This is an international collaboration of UAL: LCC and UAL: LCF and two Indonesian Universities. In this challenge MA students responded to a brief to co-create an intervention (workshop, activity, session, etc.) that will be part of the Transition Living Lab, a training program for displaced people interested in becoming change-makers and creative-activists in their own communities.
Students, working in teams, were invited to apply creative and designerly methods and themes from their own MA courses into co-creating an upskilling intervention. These interventions followed the ethos of learning-by-doing, and they were intended to be participative, engaging, hands-on and applied.
The brief were exploring the following priorities:
· Design System Innovation Framework (Extended double diamond)
· Transition Design
· Utopia as Method
· Pluriversal Approaches
This Challenge is part of the pedagogical agenda of the Refugee Transition Network, an AHRC international Networking Project that explore Transition Design in the context of displaced population.
This initiative was supported by LCC: International Office.
Read Full Brief here: CollabBrief_TransitionLivingLab
Partners and Projects
Click on the partners to see student’s projects
Guest Lectures
Francesco Mazzarella, UAL:LCF Centre for Sustainable Fashion
Francesco is a designer researcher, educator, and activist, striving to plant seeds of hope and change, especially working with marginalised communities. He is a Reader in Design for Social Change, teaching in a number of courses across LCF, UAL, especially on MA Fashion Futures.
Akino Tahir, Resilience Development Initiative, Indonesia
Dr. Akino Tahir is an independent researcher working on the youth, migration and urban management, affiliated with Resilience Development Initiative (RDI), Indonesia. In 208, she founded RDI’s Urban Refugee Research Group that focuses on the intersection of forced displacement and urban management.
Realisa Darathea Masardi, Department of Anthropology Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
Dr. Masardi is a lecturer in Department of Anthropology Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. She has extensive experience in doing ethnography research on young people in migrants and refugees’ communities, on youth cultures, and on youths’ social navigations.
Malé Luján Escalante, Silvia Grimaldi, UAL:LCC MA Service Design
So, what do we mean by changemaking? How design research and design practice can catalyse changemaking? And how to teach or train for changemaking via design or using design and creative methods? In this lecture Dr Silvia Grimaldi and Dr Malé Luján Escalante, trying to respond to these key questions for the challenge, using examples to their own practice, and grounded it in the pedagogical principles used at UAL:LCC MA Service Design. We discuss pedagogical principles informed by Design Justice, Bell Hooks, Fraire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Response-able Pedagogy Principles.
Some of the materials for this lecture can be further explore at:
Luján Escalante, M.A., Moffat, L., and Büscher, M. (2022) Ethics through design, in Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June – 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. Here →
Mortimer, C., & Escalante, M. A. L. (2022). Response-able pedagogy: teaching through Shakespeare in a Higher Education (HE) transnational partnership. Culture and Organization, 28(3-4), 345-361. Here →
Salinas, Lara and Grimaldi, Silvia and Lujan Escalante, Maria Alejandra and Ali, Hena and Lagedamont, Marion and Prendiville, Alison (2023) Teaching Service Design: pedagogical reflections. In: ServDes 2023, 11-12 July 2023, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Here →
Workshops
Traditional Ecological Knowledges (TEK) and Community Leadership
Chris Mortimer, Management School, Lancaster University
Dr Chris Mortimer, is an experienced academic leader teaching and researching in the Management School of Lancaster University with a history of working in the higher education industry in the UK and in China. Her specialist teaching areas are Organisational Behaviour within the international arena.
This workshop will explore the role of transition design in understanding the complex relationships between individual actors, the systems in which they are located as an innovative response to social exclusion as social innovation.
Experiments in Utopia as Method
Viv Kuh, Responsible Innovation, University of Bristol
Artist/Celebrant Bec Gee and Lecturer/Creative Futurist Viv Kuh have been working together on utopian futuring methodologies since 2022, supporting people to collectively imagine and critically engage with utopian futures as a means of reflecting on contemporary practice and values. Their work is inspired by Ruth Levitas’ (2013)Utopia as Method and was initially developed to support scientists and engineers to imagine the futures their research may create, but has since found resonance with researchers, artists, designerss and practitioners from a range of other contexts.
In this workshop, participants will be introduced to the theory of Utopia as Method as described by Levitas and supported through a series of creative exercises to explore how imagining the best of all possible futures can help orient our practice in the now.
Success Stories
Shifting Narratives Exhibition
Francesco Mazzarella, Camilla Palestra, UAL:LCF, Centre for Sustainable Fashion
The Transition Living Lab project was presented at the Learning Section of the Shifting Narratives Exhibition (05 -29 July, 2024) at the Barbican Library, London.
The Learning section of the exhibition presents projects of MA students from the four partner institutions, celebrating how their work contribute to shifting prevailing narratives of refugees, discussing how the socio-cultural practices of the youth participants in London, Bandung and Yogyakarta, can play a crucial role in shaping the diverse social fabric of a place, whilst building resilient communities and fostering cultural sustainability.
The learning section, was in the general context of an exhibition that celebrate the work Decolonising Fashion and Textiles – Design for Cultural Sustainability with Refugee Communities – AHRC, 2022-24 led by Dr Francesco Mazzarella and curated by Camilla Palestra (UAL:LCF -Centre for Sustainable Fashion).
It was made possible with the support of the Barbican Library, Arbeit Project Ltd, Bow Arts, Emplace, the London boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest; Poplar HARCA, RDI-UREF, Revoke, Rosetta Arts, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees. It was supported by Refugee Transition Network AHRC, 2023-24 led by Dr Malé Luján Escalante, and LCC: International Office.
Transition Living Lab Public Workshops
Adyanissa Kirana, Lewis Baylin, Sakshi Mathur, UAL:LCC MA Service Design
Two teams from UAL:LCC MA Service Design test their methodologies among researchers and general public in the context of the Shifting Narratives Exhibition at the Barbican Library, on the 6th of July, 2024. In a full day of playful public engagement, students facilitate, networked and received feedback, what was a valuable opportunity for students. The agenda for the day included: ‘Nature Explores’ Workshop, ‘Stories through Food’ Workshop, which practice skills of design exploration, storytelling and relational leadership for changemaking and transition actions.
Fashion as Catalyst: Making and Advocating for Social Change Symposium
Francesco Mazzarella, UAL:LCF Centre for Sustainable Fashion, Malé Luján Escalante, UAL:LCC Design School
Transition Living Lab organised, supported and was celebrated in the framework of the public Symposium chaired by Dr Francesco Mazzarella, celebrated on the 25th of July 2024, and part of the cultural program of the Shifting Narratives Exhibition at the Barbican Library. The event count with an excellent panel that reunited academics, artists, practitioners from community organisation, local government representative, national and international NGO’s activists and regufee project participants: Carole Morrison (UAL:LCF Head of Social Purpose in the Curriculum), Alisa Ruzavina (UAL:LCF), Tabitha Ross (Makini), Dr Malé Luján Escalante (UAL:LCC MA Service Design) , Zeej Alhajji (Project Participant), Ciara Barry (Fashion Revolution), Froi Legaspi (Citizens UK), Dr Azadeh Fatehrad (Stories Intertwined : Artistic Dialogue of Community, Migration & Integration), Ben Monro (I speak football), Katherine Duran (Project Participant), and a spoken word performance by Toyin Gbomedo (PhD Candidate at the UAL:LCF Centre for Sustainable Fashion).
Design Practice Across Borders
Transition Living Lab students at ITB:DeLab, Bandung, organised an exhibition to present, discuss and reflect on the projects.
Design Practice Across Borders was a transdisciplinary event series that aims to explore how design can empower youth communities across borders to become changemakers within their own communities. The series features an Exhibition, a Talkshow, and a Mini Workshop, showcasing the collaborative efforts of refugees and designers. Together, they reimagine both idealistic and practical solutions for future challenges, integrating diverse perspectives.
A key aspect of the event is the application of systemic design, which recognizes the interconnection of design decisions within larger systems. This approach emphasizes understanding how individual choices impact broader contexts, leading to more adaptive and inclusive solutions.
Visitors will have the opportunity to reflect on how cross-border design can address broader societal issues, such as intersectionality and city development. By engaging with these themes, this event highlights innovative ways which refugee youth contribute to redefine global systems and fostering a more inclusive future.
UAL Knowledge Exchange Awards
Malé Luján Escalante, UAL:LCC Design School
Transition Living Lab was honoured by receiving the UAL People's Award for excellent Knowledge Exchange in the category 'Equity and Diversity'.
This reassured us in our endeavours and was a cause for celebration, especially for our regugee participants.
Decolonizing Knowledge
Sakshi Mathur, UAL:LCC MA Service Design
Working on Transition Living Lab for me was an exploration in Pluriversal Design. The project we worked on demanded an acceptance of many worlds, realities, ways of being and knowing to be taken into consideration as a core thought upon which the foundation for our workshops were laid. For me this way of thought became the rabbit hole that is now shaping my understanding and perception of the world around me; the past present and future of it. Facilitating the Dance for pluriverse workshop where we used dance to express the ethos of a community, was one of the many cascading moments that began re-shaping my way of knowing and knowledge, beyond my frustrations with the colonized worldview I grew up with.
The thought lead me to unravelling the influence colonization (and therefore universalisation) had had on knowledge from the colonized (and other universalized) regions. The theory of pluriversality defined my exploration of decolonial thought within the context of knowledge, more specifically traditional ecological knowledge for my MA Service Design, Final Major project at UAL.
My methodology was based on recognition, realisation and contextualisation as steps towards decolonization. My approach has involved questioning my definition of decolonisation, what is accepted as knowledge, the ways of communicating knowledge across cultures and generations, and lastly the idea of knowledge ownership through the lens of analysing language and terminologies.
To understand and express the effects if colonisation on traditional ecological knowledge, I am focusing on a small community of honey collector from the ecological rich and volatile Bali Island in the Sundarbans (The largest mangrove forest in the world). The cultural practices in harmony with their environment and colonial influence made them the ideal subculture to help navigate the complex structure of their knowledge development, its communication, and interpretation by them as well as the universalized researchers.
Transition Living Lab was my first learning to approaching communities through pluriversal thinking, and it has now made pluriversal living my definition of decolonial action.
Shaping Emplace Youth Initiative
Ali Reza Yawari, Muna Baroud, Emplace, Indonesia
The Transition Living Lab - Design framework has been instrumental in shaping Emplace Youth Initiative’s approach to youth empowerment and refugee integration. Through our co-facilitation involvement with the Refugee Transition Network team and partner institutions in 2023, we were introduced to the Transition Design framework, which focuses on shifting mindsets and identifying intervention points within systems over time.
Together with our partner institutions, we applied this framework through hands-on workshops recently in 2024. We have created spaces where refugee youth are encouraged to envision and design systems of environmental justice, rooted in their cultural values and traditional knowledge. These workshops have been transformative, not only equipping participants with creative and designerly competencies but also boosting their self-confidence and sense of belonging. Many attendees including members of Emplace reported positive feedback in feeling reconnected to their sense of self and purpose, breaking out of isolation, and fostering meaningful friendships through this workshop.
The Transition Living Lab model, with its focus on experiential learning and co-design, has allowed participants to see themselves as agents of change, capable of envisioning new futures and leading systemic transformations. By shifting the narrative from a deficit-based view to a strength-based approach, our workshop encouraged and highlighted the invaluable contributions that displaced youth bring to their communities. This collaborative environment deepened their understanding of local challenges as well as nurtured leadership and innovation that can empower them to shape their own futures.
Link to Emplace LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emplace-initiative/
Emplace Co-Founder and Executive Director: Ali Reza Yawari
Emplace Co-Founder and Programme Coordinator: Muna Baroud
SOLAR - Strengthening Opportunities for Learning and Actualisation for Rough Sleepers
Chung Yin Rachel Leung, UAL:LCC MA Service Design
I am always passionate about designing for and with vulnerable or marginalized groups. I am grateful for the opportunity with the Transition Living Lab to co-create a training program for the displaced people. It has been an inspiring journey for me to explore how service design approaches complex social needs through the Systemic Design Framework. Designing with care for vulnerable groups with appropriate topic, language and materials has been an invaluable reflection on the role of service design, and its strengths and limitations.
This experience has fueled me to embark on my final major project with the Ealing Council addressing the challenges faced by rough sleepers with No Recourse Public Funds around Havelock Estate in Southall. The project aims to explore upskilling through volunteering opportunities for rough sleepers so that they can work on their personal development and mitigate the challenges they are facing. The service idea is going to be tested with Hope for Southall Street Homeless and the Bixley Community Garden Southall. I anticipate the idea can be transferred to newly accommodated individuals or people with addiction who need support in establishing healthy routine. A handbook on how service designers can approach complex social needs will also be delivered.
Dissemination in high impact international cross-disciplinary venues
Dr Meirina Triharini (ITB:DeLab), Dr Chris Mortimer (Lancaster University) and Dr Malé Luján Escalante are co-chairing a track entitled “Approaching Displacement with Creative and Designerly Methods” in which many of the projects from students across the institutions will be presenting their work in the context of the 20th International Association for the Study of Forced Migration Conference (IASFM20) - Forced Displacement in an Urbanizing World Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 21-23 January 2025.
The co-chairs use the opportunity of brought together a cross-disciplinary network of scholars in their own institutions across their countries, to invite them to the conference and catalyse futures collaborations. The proceedings of the track will be published as part of special edition of the same name with Global Discourse (Bristol University Press) in 2026.
