Design for Resilient Economies as part of New Normal Speaker Series

Dr Ida Telabasic is a Lecturer and Programme Director within the Institute for Design Innovation. The talk, entitled "Design for Resilient Economies" with Prof. Muratovksi (Director of the Ullman School of Design, University of Cincinnati) was part of the New Normal Speaker Series, organized together with other speakers such as Bruce Mau, Don Norman, Karim Rashid, to name a few.

The talk looks at an action research project that was developed by Dr Ida Telalbasic during her PhD studies in Milan, Italy. During the socio-economic crisis of 2008, she collaborated with Impact HUB to research how early-stage entrepreneurs were affected by the crisis in terms of obtaining services needed for developing their ventures. She investigates how service design contributes in proposing new service models using complementary currency systems towards social innovation and sustainability. Furthermore, she explored how service design tools, methods and approaches contribute towards resilient strategies in times of socio-economic transformation.

In the talk, Dr Ida Telalbasic starts with defining the term ‘crisis’ (as both danger and opportunity), starting from the socio-economic crisis of 2008 that caused unbalanced income distribution, right up until our current and on-going pandemic, seen as a global health, economic and social crisis. She also addresses the notion of resilience and how companies can develop strategies to withstand shocks, such as pandemics and socio-economic crises. Other opposing views are considered, such as ‘anti-fragile’ systems that recognise crises as valuable and critical reflection points.

As part of developing resilient strategies for subversion, and resistance, complementary currency systems are introduced, including several successful case studies from both Western and emerging economies. Part of this analysis includes reflections on the sociological interpretations of value exchange within peer-to-peer networks and the role service design can play in creating new service models. These new service models enable de-centralised knowledge exchange through digital currencies that are governed by community members and foster social innovation practices.

To watch this talk by Dr Ida Telabasic, please see here.