The Social Matters

Abstract: This project explores design as a social practice that provokes changes. The context that this project operates in is a growing private organization, which is a dynamic and market­oriented environment. The two core concepts that we have explored through the methodology of unlearning were belonging and care, which are both immanent to any kind of network, but at the same time intangible enough to not be prioritized. Those two terms were the topics we focused on the most, but at the same time, it's important to acknowledge that when working with social matters it's impossible to relate to a limited number of concepts, as everything is interconnected and starts to make sense together. In this process, we addressed the employees of the organization and brought up topics of relations, values and the future. During the time when we were embedded in the corporation, we had a chance to explore several different methods, from which some of which were co-creative and participatory, but all of them were explorative. The product of this exploration is a conceptual space that was produced during workshopping moments, that allowed the participants to debate the current situation, as well as rethink and reimagine the possible future. The by-product of this process is a workshop manual that is providing complex designerly tools and tasks to open up discussions.