Radial Recycling Exhibition and Participatory Co-design: UNESCO Creative City Design Week

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posted on 2025-11-04, 22:03 authored by Merinda KellyMerinda Kelly, Fiona PhillipsFiona Phillips, Fatima Iftikhar, Rebecca Vandyk-Hamilton

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Radial Re-cycling: Co-Design and Reuse Through Creative Play

Notes

Competitive Application Process for Public Exhibition Curated by Pip Minney and Jackson Mann. Participatory Co-design socially engaged art and sound components curated by Merinda Kelly, Wadawurrung Elder was professionally consulted and opened the exhibition.

Start date

2024-11-25

End date

2024-11-29

Research statement

Background This exhibition explores participatory arts practices through sustainable co-design with recycled plastics and a series of upcycled objects. It featured inspirational exhibits of industrial and product design from the Alfred Deakin Prime Ministerial Library Collection and 8000 recycled plastic objects. Intergenerational audiences were invited to imagine, co-design and make something new with discarded plastics in response to the provocation: 'What if what we have already is enough to co-design a more sustainable city'? An installation emerged through democratic dialogue and hands-on, sustainable co-design. Contribution This NTRO contributes to gaps in the research that explore intergenerational, participatory co-design with citizens, children, students and communities. Playful, democratic spaces were made for inclusive, socio-relational and sensorial encounters with plastics that ‘give voice to those who aren't always able to enjoy a platform or have the power to speak up." Tim Soutphommasane (2017), AHRC. The exhibition elicited imaginative and innovative design thinking, while also bringing community participants into closer relation with the detritus of everyday consumerism as potential material for creative, collaboration and sustainable, community-led, co-design. Significance Competitive application and funding processes were undertaken to present this professionally curated exhibition. It was the lead project highlighted event on the Design Week Website. https://www.geelongdesignweek.com.au/ The opening was very well attended and the exhibition received 230 Instagram posts and 290 visitors/ participants. There have been further inquiries requesting reenactments in schools, community context and conferences. The project addresses Deakin’s strategic goals of ‘enabling a sustainable world’ and ‘Building safe and secure communities’.

Event

Radial Re-cycling

Publisher

Geelong Design Week Website 2025 Lead Project

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Radial Recycling Exhibition and Participatory Co-design: UNESCO Creative City Design Week

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