{"id":12764,"date":"2024-12-18T09:21:53","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T08:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=12764"},"modified":"2024-12-18T09:21:53","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T08:21:53","slug":"design-for-planet-festival-2024-manchester-school-of-art-reviewed-by-rowanna-lacey-ewings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=12764","title":{"rendered":"Design for Planet Festival 2024, Manchester School of Art, reviewed by Rowanna Lacey Ewings"},"content":{"rendered":"

An event that truly allowed the free flow of radical thought and provided a place for powerful discussions around making sustainable change. <\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Design for Planet Festival 2024 | Manchester School of Art (Manchester Metropolitan University) | Reviewed by Rowanna Lacey Ewings<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sustainability spotlight was shining down on Manchester for the Design for Planet Festival 2024 organised by the Design Council. This year taking place at the Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University. Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, opened the festival setting the scene for the city\u2019s commitment to its ambitious sustainable climate strategy goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The backdrop to the festival were eight double sided huge cloth banners, created especially for the event from high quality offcuts donated by Community Clothing. Designed and made by students from across different courses and disciplines. As a designer and educator working in sustainability, developing the brief for the project allowed me to think of how the space would work and how the banners would provoke the audience, be visually stimulating and communicate the climate positive student responses on one side with the other side spelling out the words \u2018radical thought space\u2019 all from the tiny fabric pieces. The students were asked to consider the UN Sustainability Goals as well as the mission and thinking behind the Community Clothing philosophy. The physicality of manually pinning and stitching the small remnant pieces was a huge task which required a lot of patience and for some, newly learned skills such as hand sewing.<\/p>\n

Third year Textiles in Practice student Martha Lawton said:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy banner took inspiration from \u2018tumbling blocks\u2019, a geometric pattern that has been repeated throughout generations and, to us, symbolised longevity. We created our own repeatable pattern made purely from the shapes of the fabric scraps. Our banner proves that what we consider to be waste can be repurposed into something as equally durable as the garments Community Clothing make. It was great to recycle such high-quality fabrics to make a statement about sustainability, and such a treat to meet Patrick and the Design Council in person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students from MA Textiles and BA Textiles in Practice courses Claire Malley, Esther Mills, Iola Watson and Amy Farmer said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen designing our banner, we wanted to tell the story of the textile industry in the North West, to celebrate the heritage and the people. We were inspired by the simple shape of a bobbin as we felt it clearly communicated the narrative we wanted to portray. We also took inspiration from the signage of the old Hotspur Press factory building and the font style of historical textile banners to create our positive message, \u2019Threads Weave Change\u2019. This encapsulated our belief as a group that textiles and what we choose to wear, our ‘threads’ have the potential to make positive changes and to inform future design thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other student banner designs included an umbrella and child motif to represent safeguarding the future, oversized footprints in reference to the fashion industry\u2019s global footprint, algae bio pigment cells, ocean health, design circularity and sustainable flax production.\u00a0 Second year BA Textiles in Practice student Jayne Plummer noted of the whole experience \u201cthat teamwork was essential, collaboration with students and staff from different creative courses each with different skills, work experience and ages resulted in a fantastic learning opportunity. Students demonstrated dedication to the project by committing many additional hours working on the banners\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pro Vice Chancellor of Arts and Humanities and Director of the Manchester School of Art Professor Martyn Evans FRSA welcomed Minnie Moll CEO of the Design Council and the festival delegates online and in the room with an effervescent enthusiasm and love for the city of Manchester.\u00a0 Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester followed Martyn Evans with the same vigour and conviction that Manchester really was a destination city for green future thinking.<\/p>\n

Keynote speaker BBC Great British Sewing Bee judge Patrick Grant spoke of buying less, and buying better quality made things that last and can be fixed or mended. I particularly responded to his story of his antique chair at home which was over 100 years old and still going strong, very much loved and used. His manner and approach was passionate, funny and endearing, but he managed to still convey the strong underlying message that overconsumption must change. His brand Community Clothing, although essentially still making things, champions the business model of making things well, employing a talented British local workforce to manufacture their classic and timeless garments, promoting jobs and local economies can be a sustainable way forward.<\/p>\n

Tanya Popeau, Director of Synthesis and former sustainability consultant advisor for the UN, tackled the statistics and pursued the idea that good design innovation can still drive growth and have a positive environmental outcome. Poignant conversations were driven in the panel discussions with emotive language from a different Martyn Evans, creative director of the Landsec Group gave an insight into how not all large businesses are chasing solely profit and that there are people within them who truly care about environmental commitments. There were seamless links flowing throughout the day of talks, workshops and panels discussions that embodied the wider goals of planet conscious aware design leaders.\u00a0 Pete Swift from landscape design firm Planit talked of being \u2018intrinsically knitted together\u2019 within the thinking of minds and businesses such as Simeon Rose, creative director of \u2018Faith in Nature\u2019, the Manchester based company that has put \u2018Nature\u2019 on the board. There was a refreshing air to the discussion and progressive approach to a kinder business mentality with the sharing of knowledge and sustainable working systems.<\/p>\n

One of the most powerful messages of the day was delivered by the formidable Sophie Thomas of climate tech waste solutions studio etsaW \u2013 capturing the urgency of the call for the design community to unite, hers was the closing keynote speech. Thomas, who is also founder of the \u2018Useful Simple Trust\u2019, a social enterprise that promotes purpose-driven design for the changing environment, talked passionately inviting the audience to look \u2018inside her brain\u2019, whilst a film montage played on the large screen behind her showing dramatic birds eye views of the earth\u2019s vast areas of land being carved up, dumped on and mined for precious minerals amongst other things. Uncomfortable viewing perhaps, there was a definite shift in mood within the room, but the tone was confident and provided a provocation to change the mindset and address the most pressing challenges that will affect society and our planet.<\/p>\n

Manchester School of Art\u2019s Dr Paul Micklethwaite and Dr Philip Ely, showcased the Manchester Design Factory\u2019s published outputs. Design Factory Manchester is an innovation hub at Manchester School of Art. Design Factory Manchester is a vehicle for practitioners, researchers, and students to drive sustainable development in communities within and beyond the city.<\/p>\n

The event was live streamed to over 5000 people across the world as well as to the invited delegates. The Design Council have proved their importance and relevance guiding and influencing the UK\u2019s design sector in a planet positive direction. The city of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and the Manchester School of Art embodied the essence of the diverse creative minds working towards a vision of a more sustainable future.<\/p>\n

This was indeed an event that truly allowed the free flow of radical thought and provided a place for powerful discussions around making sustainable change.<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Rowanna Lacey Ewings<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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