The Descent of Air Travel
Design for
climate change, degrowth, Workshops
Year
2019-2020
The West’s excessive amount of consumption and production is causing irreversible ecological degradation. Despite the changing climate, society is pushed to spend and consume, creating a culture of mass consumption and a reliance on economic growth. Commercial air travel in particular, is a resource intensive industry, yet it is the favoured form of transportation for leisure trips and long work journeys. How can this environmentally destructive behavior be reduced to more sustainable levels for a better future?
In this dissertation project, Jess examined people’s values and perceptions related to excessive air travel and whether they might be shifted through design workshops. The design workshops consisted of breaching activities – challenging values such as convenience and escapism. Participants also took part in a future scenario planning exercise to determine what the air travel industry might look like thirty years from now. At the end of the project, a set of Inversion cards were designed to support potential future workshops for environmental organisations and/or policy makers.
INSIGHT
Did your project evolve in unexpected ways?
Yes, results from the workshop revealed a tension between structure and individual agency (similar to that of Covid-19). How much structure is needed from governments? Can fully-informed individuals be expected to change their behaviour? There is a significant relationship between design and politics. Participatory design provides a space for creativity, learning, and exchange of information for effective and sustainable change.
How did this project impact you as a designer moving forward?
Jess now has a greater knowledge and understanding of participatory design. She finds it extremely valuable in engaging a wider audience and generating meaningful discussions that might not take place in top-down approaches.
What were the key methods that you used for this work?
Online surveys, an expert interview and literature review all helped to inform the participatory design workshops. The workshops themselves took place over Zoom, with participants taking part in a provotyping activity around values, future scenario planning, and discussions about climate change and the impact of air travel.
Dada-inspired cover art for workshop presentation slides 
Value: excitement of going somewhere new 
Design prompt 
A small handful of marketing posts from various airlines from June to August 2020
