Climate Action Plan profile: The power of design to create positive local change
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We spoke to Dr. Lara Salinas, Senior Research Fellow in Knowledge Exchange and Senior Lecturer on MA Service Design at LCC to reflect on the power of Knowledge Exchange activities to create positive change in local communities and beyond.
Tell us a bit about how your work and what it’s trying to achieve.
My practice research focuses on embedding design-led approaches in local and central government in the context of complex challenges such as climate justice. Through this work I bring a stronger people and place- centred approach to policy making and public service provision.
Since 2019, I have been collaborating with Southwark Council to increase their design capability and to help them achieve net zero
in the borough. We started with a couple of small collaborations in the curriculum, followed by a yearlong collaboration funded by UKRI’s Design Exchange Partnerships and Higher Impact Education Funding in which we founded a temporary Climate Studio.
What has been your biggest achievement from the last year?
Our biggest achievement over the last year has been that our design-led work has informed the borough’s sustainable food strategy. Through this they achieved national recognition for their leadership in securing good food for residents. Personally, I am proud to have gained national and international recognition across local and central government departments for my work.
What are your plans for the future of this initiative?
Building on the learning from Climate Studio we are extending our collaboration with local and central government departments nationally and internationally. We will continue our collaboration with several publicly funded schemes to tackle climate justice in the borough. Many of the postgraduate service design students involved have started their career in public sector organisations so I am hopeful to see how their work influences change.