Abstract
This paper explores how craft, as an unselfconscious design practice and embodied knowledge, contributes to situated design research, based on an ethnographic field study in Fife, Scotland, and a co-creation workshop in Edinburgh. The study points out that existing studies and practices promoting craft–design collaboration tend to focus on urban contexts and designer-led methods, often resulting in a lack of context-sensitive consideration and the presence of imbalanced relationships. Thus, this study underscores that understanding the local knowledge of rural-based craft practitioners and the distinct attributes of rural settings can respond to the challenges of rural craft practices and the barriers to collaboration. The fieldwork and workshop reveal that creating non-hierarchical collaborative spaces, based on situated knowledge gained from local contexts, can encourage spontaneous knowledge exchange and empower craft practitioners to confidently present their craft knowledge, which bridges craft and design to promote meaningful collaboration and long-term sustainable development.
Keywords
Rural craft practices; Craft–design collaboration; Situated knowledge; Fife, Scotland
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2265
Citation
Sheng, P., and Ahmed, A. (2026) Situated knowledge in rural craft practices: A context-sensitive approach to craft–design collaboration in Fife, Scotland, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2265
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Situated knowledge in rural craft practices: A context-sensitive approach to craft–design collaboration in Fife, Scotland
This paper explores how craft, as an unselfconscious design practice and embodied knowledge, contributes to situated design research, based on an ethnographic field study in Fife, Scotland, and a co-creation workshop in Edinburgh. The study points out that existing studies and practices promoting craft–design collaboration tend to focus on urban contexts and designer-led methods, often resulting in a lack of context-sensitive consideration and the presence of imbalanced relationships. Thus, this study underscores that understanding the local knowledge of rural-based craft practitioners and the distinct attributes of rural settings can respond to the challenges of rural craft practices and the barriers to collaboration. The fieldwork and workshop reveal that creating non-hierarchical collaborative spaces, based on situated knowledge gained from local contexts, can encourage spontaneous knowledge exchange and empower craft practitioners to confidently present their craft knowledge, which bridges craft and design to promote meaningful collaboration and long-term sustainable development.