The Social Higher Education Depot was invited to feature as part of the Design Council’s ‘Design for Planet’ event, a physical and virtual event hosted by Design Council in response to COP26. Taking place on 9th and 10th November 2021, this landmark event championed design as a powerful agent of change, and featured talks, practical sessions and design tools to help all kinds of designers address the biggest challenge of our time.
Design for Planet S.H.E.D was a collaborative creative arts exhibition involving school children, young people, artists, designers and stakeholders from across the UK. This thought-provoking installation featured artwork ranging from podcasts and videos to murals and music and offered a platform for the public to communicate their thoughts and opinions on the issue of climate change.
The objective of Design for Planet S.H.E.D was to provide a platform for people to showcase their artistic talent and for their views on the issues that matter to them to be heard loud and clear. The installation addressed themes of climate change to provide a unique space to showcase young people’s creative talent from across the UK. This exhibition acted as a catalyst for positive change, to address challenges of climate change, inequality and promote social mobility.
The S.H.E.D was installed at the V&A in Dundee on Sunday 6th November in advance of the main Design for Planet event, to deliver workshops with young people from the city on the topics of climate change, inequality and social mobility. During the event itself, the S.H.E.D showcased work from previous events and installations to share their voices and hopes for the future. Dr Rhiannon Jones was invited by Design Council, UK to speak at Design for Planet about the work of S.H.E.D, as part of a panel of experts discussing ‘cocreation with communities’ hosted by the V&A for this landmark event.
Design for Planet attendees also visited S.H.E.D to make their own pledge for the future, which was transformed into part of the installation itself. We are proud to bring this bespoke Design for Planet S.H.E.D to the V&A Dundee which has been made possible through collaboration with a range of civic and arts organisations in the UK and internationally. We worked in partnership with the National Justice Museum, Make to Make, M-prez Enterprise, CivicLAB, Derby County Community Trust, CHEAD, Derby Theatre, BabyPeople, Quad, University of Derby, Claypotts Castle Primary School, V&A Dundee and Design Council UK.
