Drawing upon the Transition Design movement developed at Carnegie Mellon University (http://transitiondesign.net/) and linking with Tania’s research into systems thinking and sense making of complexity, the Transition Design studio introduced students to ideas around systems thinking as a way to examine and understand the complex issues around food waste and landfill.
Students used mapping to gain insight into the zero waste to landfill management practices at Melbourne Zoo, which operates in a largely contained and controlled environment, to understand the nature of organic nutrient recycling and flows. Then working with the the Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group students made sense of the complexity of council waste management across Melbourne, including the limitations and diversity of practices. From these insights students developed designs to engage and educate the public through play and games on the issues, impacts and potential solutions.
