A METADESIGN MANIFESTO

See introducing metadesign | 10 key points | The Metadesign Research Centre | New School Futures introduction

OUR VISION

• A world that values the unique and the special, rather than living by arbitrary standards.
• Team-oriented, creative, adaptive learning resources, tailored to the needs of each learner.
• A Higher Education system that sustains itself financially, yet is free at the point of learning.
• A life-long learning framework designed to make the planet wiser, safer and more hospitable.

OUR COMPREHENSIVE & JOINED-UP APPROACH

Children are telling adults that we must urgently change everything,
While this may be true, ‘everything' is big word. (Electric cars will not save us).
We need a lot more more than technical fixes to address the underlying problems.
Many who are too invested in the 'reality' of the problem find such change unthinkable.
They can't imagine re-inventing farming, clocks, homes, money, clothing, thermostats & design.
They assume that whatever is 'unthinkable' is also 'impossible' - e.g. they won't believe in miracles.
Our contagious optimism will create paradigms that turn 'unthinkables' into 'unforeseen possibles'.

TAKING OUR EVOLUTIONARY WEAKNESSES INTO ACCOUNT

The good news is that we are an adaptive species.
It is too long ago to remember the full, sordid story.
We distanced ourselves from our chimpanzee cousins.
When our brains grew we became the smartest of all Apes.
We burned trees, narrowed our diet and dumped toxic waste.
But this cleverness made half of all the other species disappear.
Factories & unit-based money systems continue to trash the planet.
Today, we must re-calibrate all our assumptions, belief systems & habits.

SUSTAINING THIS MANIFESTO AS THOUGH IT WERE ALIVE

Money shapes the Anthropocene & threatens our survival with its 'undead' (e.g. zombie) logic.
Metadesign emulates living organisms, so this manifesto aims to grow, multiply & evolve.
It is a collaborative & adaptive framework for finding unforeseen opportunities.
Adapting to change must include re-inventing our practices AND ourselves.
If we only walk on well-trodden paths we may, eventually, lose our way.
What works for one time or place may not be suitable elsewhere.
We need practical skills that focus onto the given task at hand.
We also need collaborative wisdom for the bigger picture.
So we aim always to walk the talk and talk the walk.

BEYOND THE METAPHOR OF A TOOLBOX

Metadesign is a toolbox for collective metamorphosis.
Metadesign is a superset of all possible approaches
Metadesign is not a subset of existing approaches
Metadesign is more sympoietic than allopoietic
Metadesign is comprehensive & transitional
Metadesign is polymorphic and adaptive
Metadesign emulates living systems
Metadesign belongs to everyone
Metadesign belongs to no-one
Metadesign is interoperable
Metadesign is relational
Metadesign is systemic
Metadesign is 4-fold
Metadesign is fun

CAN DESIGNERS RE-DESIGN DESIGN?

The need to change everything is now urgent.
This means making massive changes at all levels.
Design must become the solution, not the problem.
But designers are not yet trained re-design everything.
Indeed, many are specialists, trained for maximising GDP.
They will need to co-create new business models & lifestyles.
They will synergise enterprise with entredonneurial approaches.
The current economy of 'things' will become a synergy of synergies.

KEEP IT GOING

This will be a co-creative venture. PLEASE JOIN WITH US IN SAVING THE WORLD.
Follow our work in making the education system more extraordinary