Dr Dominique Hes is a Senior Lecturer  Melbourne School of Design, Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning. She is director of the Thrive Research Hub and co-author of Designing for Hope: pathways to Regenerative sustainability.  We talk about enriching relationships and designing for possibility.
Talking points
Happiness not wealth
We’re not trained to think of ourselves as nature
Enriching relationships
Designing for possibility
Aim for potential – not just solving a problem
The machine doesn’t know how to break the rules
We’re just aiming for sustaining when we need to be aiming for thriving
Identifying the irresistible narrative – the capacity to develop with positive ripples.
Sustainable: Sustainability is a part of the mechanistic worldview of us saying “how can we manage the system better?†I am critical about the definition of Sustainability, I align much closer to the definition for regenerative development which is to work on projects which increase the vitality, the viability to constructively adapt to change.
Success: Seeing the lights go on in my students eyes, seeing them change from passive consumers to active participants.
Superpower: My superpower is networking, remembering who I have met so that I can connect to them.
Activist: No, to be an activist it means if you don’t agree with me I’ve failed, instead I’m a educator. It’s up to you whether this story fits within your life, your narrative and your way of thinking, I’m not going to enforce it upon you.
Motivation: Curiosity, I’m curious about everything and its potential.
Challenges: I’m looking forward to learning how to slow down, as much as I am taking a time cut instead of a payrise, I still don’t really feel like I have the time to really read or reflect. So, I’ll be going back to two days a week as soon as I can to create that time.
Miracle: That people saw their potential in creating a thriving future, that people switched from passive consumption to active participation, being alert and present with the issues at hand.
Advice: Slow down, It’s as much about finding how you can thrive in the system as how you can help the system thrive!
This conversation was supported by Wintec‘s Centre for Transdisciplinary Research and Innovation.