Abstract
This paper explores living systems theory and how it can apply to designing convivial food systems in everyday life as an alternative to the dominant, industrial food system. There are three major threads in the paper; firstly, the literature review explores the industrial food system problem and the emerging food systems design field. The second thread of the paper is the ontological foundation of living systems theory that will be outlined describing a view of life that embraces ecological design and an eco-literate worldview. The paper will outline seven levels of living systems theory and how these different levels of living systems apply to the proposed praxis of designing convivial food systems. Thirdly convivial food systems praxis will be demonstrated through various experiments and prototyping exercises conducted in Victoria, Australia. The results of the study suggest how designers adopt convivial design techniques and living systems theory into their practice through the ‘convivial design culture’ approach.
Keywords
convivial food systems, living systems theory, food design praxis, relational services, service design, conviviality, eco literacy, everyday designers
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/servdes2018.22
Citation
Ballantyne-Brodie, E.(2018) Designing Convivial Food Systems in Everyday Life, in Anna Meroni, Ana María Ospina Medina, Beatrice Villari (eds.), ServDes 2018: Service Design Proof of Concept, 18–20 June, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/servdes2018.22
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Research Papers
Designing Convivial Food Systems in Everyday Life
This paper explores living systems theory and how it can apply to designing convivial food systems in everyday life as an alternative to the dominant, industrial food system. There are three major threads in the paper; firstly, the literature review explores the industrial food system problem and the emerging food systems design field. The second thread of the paper is the ontological foundation of living systems theory that will be outlined describing a view of life that embraces ecological design and an eco-literate worldview. The paper will outline seven levels of living systems theory and how these different levels of living systems apply to the proposed praxis of designing convivial food systems. Thirdly convivial food systems praxis will be demonstrated through various experiments and prototyping exercises conducted in Victoria, Australia. The results of the study suggest how designers adopt convivial design techniques and living systems theory into their practice through the ‘convivial design culture’ approach.