Climate, economic, industrial and social transition: a new priority for design

How can we live, organise our societies, design our living environments in a climate that is in the process of being disrupted if we do not rethink the training of young people and actors who are no longer content with mere greening? This is why ESC Clermont BS and Strate Ecole de Design signed an agreement on November 26, 2019 under which they will create a Master of Science together. Anthropocene by Design ".

On the occasion of the Saint-Etienne International Biennale last April, a conference put the finger on the question of collaborative and hybrid survival in precarious times, exploring the controversies between a planet governed by physical and biological laws (the Earth system) and a set of human societies governed by economic, social or political laws (the World system).
The Philosopher Cynthia Fleury was involved in an attempt to make the concept of the anthropocene - a contemporary concept to name the environmental mutation caused by man - accessible. How, beyond the staging of these conflicting relationships, can design with its methods enable companies to anticipate and prevent in this context of anthropocene precariousness?

Geoffroy Dorne, designer and creator of a workshop-design project with social tendencies, presented the issues of collapse, individual, collective and professional resilience during a workshop on the theme of the "social impact of the crisis". conference in 2018. For him, " Design has to stay in tune with its time and interact with / for / against / on the margins; designers have to constantly question their time, not only with texts, but with their projects; there is a lot of anguish around these questions of the collapse of ecosystems and the thermo-industrial society [...]. ".

ESC Clermont BS and Strate Ecole de Design have understood these questions since they signed an agreement on Tuesday 26 November 2019, at the end of which they will create a Master of Science together. Anthropocene by Design "This project is totally dedicated to the training of future players in the climate, economic, industrial and social transition. The courses will be held from the start of the 2020-2021 academic year in the brand new Strate campus located in the Confluence district of Lyon.

Founded in 1919, ESC Clermont BS is today an international school with double AACSB and EPAS accreditation, member of the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles and UCA as an associate member. Represented by more than 13,000 graduates worldwide, the School trains actors in the transformation of companies and organizations, and develops expertise in changing sectors (Digital, Sport Business, Mobility, Retail...).
Singular by its human dimension, the School measures its value by the creation of meaning it brings to its students and by the impact it will have throughout their lives.

As for the project of Strate School of Design, it is to "make the world simpler, fairer, more beautiful". All life situations, small or large, private or public, personal or professional, deserve simplicity, accuracy and harmony. For this Strate delivers a Designer Diploma in five years approved by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, in the fields of mobility, product, identity, space, interaction and Smart City. It also delivers a Bachelor's degree in Digital Modeling, a Master's degree in Innovation & Design, as well as an MBA "Management by Design". Strate has two design research laboratories, one on value creation and design, the other on social robotics and AI. Strate is a member of the Carnot Institute "Telecom et Société Numérique" and a member of the UGEI (Union des Grandes Ecoles Indépendants).
Recognized by the State, ranked among the 60 best design schools worldwide by Business Week-Bloomberg, and among the 50 best European design schools by the magazine Domus, Strate is present on four campuses: Paris, Lyon, Singapore and Bangalore (India).

The Context

Corals threatened with extinction, accelerated disappearance of wild species, collapsing glaciers... This is not a simple environmental "crisis" that we are experiencing, but much deeper transformations that signal the entry of our planet into a new geological and climatic era: the Anthropocene. They are forcing us to rethink our economic, industrial and social activities from top to bottom. But how can we live, organize our societies and design our living environments in a climate that is in the process of being disrupted if we do not rethink our education and training? 

To answer this question and to meet the demand of young people and actors who are no longer satisfied with mere greening, Strate Ecole de Design and ESC Clermont BS have decided to create this Master of Science aimed at training in "ecological redirection".

What objectives?

What objects designed for the anthropocene? Which social organizations to set up? What economic, financial and industrial strategies should be invented? Which political institutions to compose? These are the questions that will be addressed in the framework of a project-based pedagogy, throughout an interdisciplinary and innovative curriculum at the intersection of design, earth sciences and human and social sciences.

Because ecological redirection is first to land (Bruno Latour), students will be trained to accompany companies, public, international or associative organizations in the design of strategies allowing them to align themselves with planetary limits.

Ecological redirection also means learning to live, organize, undertake and design our living environments in a world where permanent technological and industrial expansion can become an irrational, undesirable or even technically unsustainable promise.

Who is this training for?

This training is intended for all students (managers, designers, engineers, Science Po, SHS...) wishing to strengthen their skills on ecological and climate issues.
Students will learn to design and conduct new forms of field investigation to understand critical situations (ecosystem change, resource collapse, scarcity, humanitarian and social crisis). They will acquire new skills to implement transition policies in organizations that wish to make proactive, rapid and effective ecological redirections. They will also be trained in the processes, methods and techniques that enable them to design desirable futures within the context of tightened ecological, climatic and social constraints.

For Françoise Roudier, Director General of ESC Clermont BS: " Following the signing of the call for students to be trained on climate issues last September with 80 institutional leaders, we are today acknowledging this commitment in terms of training. The ambition of this MSc is to open up a new path, with a partner of choice, and to offer students today an innovative program rich in solutions for tomorrow. ".

Dominique Sciamma, Managing Director of Strate Ecole de Design, believes that " Because we obviously need to change the way we conceive, produce, consume and live in order to rebalance our impact and relationship with the world, it is more than necessary to train differently those who will be responsible for this tomorrow. This ambitious and realistic MSc, in which design serves as glue, is our way of contributing to this, alongside a Grande Ecole of Management.. ».             

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