Browsing by Author "Withers S"

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    Interconnected Futures: Material practices and knowledge-based systems in the academy
    (Design Research Society (DRS), ) Kane F; Withers S; Kilford A; Leitão, RM; Men, I; Noel, L-A; Lima, J; Meninato, T
    More than ever, the role of textile design in environmental, economic, and social crises globally is being revealed. This presents a challenge to activate textile design towards positive change through centring practices that are relational, place-based, and deeply attuned to justice and the wellbeing of our planet: Areas of concern that have been embedded in indigenous ways of Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa for over a millennium. However, as wāhine who whakapapa Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa and Pākehā, we are experiencing tensions when we facilitate authentic knowledge-based systems and material practices that were once naturally entangled to nature, people, and the wellbeing of society. Within this contribution, we will consider the shifting, re-wiring, and co-creation of our ways of practicing and teaching textile design towards interconnected futures. To do this, we will reflect from the position of our interconnected identities and their entanglement with our scholarly and teaching practices within the academy. And how we might embody the necessary attitudes required to practice, co-create, and maintain the resilience of our ways towards a more ‘just’ future for Aotearoa and its place among Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa. We will be mindful, throughout, in perceiving our ways and tools as ‘alternative’, for these have a distinct genealogy but have not traditionally been validated within academic institutions.
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    Mātauranga Moana: uplifting Māori and Pacific values of conceptualisation over western co-design constructs
    (Design Research Society, 2023-11-29) Withers S; Stokes G; Jones D; Borekci N; Clemente V; Corazzo J; Lotz N; Nielsen LM; Noel L-A
    This paper offers a critical examination of the problematic use of western co-design methodologies when applied to indigenous and diasporic communities. By centring place-based, relational design approaches to enable cultural conventions from our position in Aotearoa New Zealand, we argue the use of co-design constructs risks overlaying neo-liberal ideologies on top of our resilient indigenous Māori and Pacific knowledge systems, values, ethics, and collective approaches towards design conceptualisation. As design researchers located in te moana-nui-a-Kiwa our discussion is underpinned by our Māori whakapapa, Sāmoan gafa, and relationship to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We present our kōrero through a case study relationship with a local healthcare service, aiming to increase access for Māori and Pacific tamariki through design actions. Our collaboration was developed within the format of a tertiary course involving Māori and Pacific tauira enrolled in Design and Fine Arts degrees at Ngā Pae Māhutonga School of Design, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University of New Zealand. Unlike traditional university design courses that aim to achieve a specific measurable outcome, we focussed on fostering whakawhānaungatanga and evidencing this through activated learning of the cultural conventions of wānanga and talanoa towards weaving together our values through critically reflective practice. Our case study relationship demonstrates the importance of relational place-based knowledge systems and their conditions for enabling reflexivity towards tino rangatiratanga and ola manuia within Māori and Pacific communities; further highlighting the systemic barriers that practices of co-design can seed when attempting to serve our communities in Aotearoa.
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    Regenerative Material Ecologies in HCI
    (2025-04-26) Nicenboim I; Karana E; McQuillan H; Devendorf L; Kakehi Y; Bell F; Speed C; Oogjes D; Yao L; Søndergaard MLJ; Helms K; Withers S
    Regenerative thinking is gaining momentum in HCI, shifting the focus from merely mitigating environmental harm to actively fostering cohabitation within more-than-human ecosystems. This shift challenges HCI researchers to develop new methodologies that engage with both material and cultural regeneration—harnessing the regenerative capacities of ecologies while preserving valuable knowledge systems. It also underscores the need for a fundamental onto-epistemological shift beyond anthropocentric notions of sustainability. To support HCI researchers in adopting regenerative approaches while addressing these challenges, this panel brings together a diverse group of design researchers working hands-on with materials ranging from biological to algorithmic. Through concrete examples and actionable insights, the panelists provide practical guidance on engaging with regenerative material ecologies. By interweaving multiple perspectives through a diffractive approach, the panel also explores the opportunities this emerging perspective offers for HCI, particularly at the intersection of sustainability, posthumanism, and decoloniality.