Alternative Practitioners: Scarcity, Climate Optimism and the Future of Design Thinking PhD

Carey Clouse [PhD year 1]

Supervisors: Ripin Kalra & David Littlefield

This PhD by publication reflects on the role of design in productive and resilient place-making for a changing climate, with a focus on ‘alternative practitioners’, or non-expert voices. I explore the transformative potential of counter-hegemonic design thinking as a means of grappling with real-world challenges. My published work spans continents, disciplines, approaches, actors, and even theoretical frameworks, but it is consistently expressed through the cross-cutting themes of scarcity, participation and optimism under climate change.

studies help to break down the distance between the everyday and the exceptional, finding inroads for practice that are neither entirely top-down or bottom-up. In so doing, this research highlights the alternative modes of practice that offer new models for environmental resilience, critically calling for a reframing of design practice and associated access to support these goals.

KEY WORDS: resilient place-making; climate change; resource protection; alternative practice