Alumni Tim Leeson: Storytelling & Kombucha Fabric

Tim Leeson

Tim Leeson, originally from Australia, joined us on the Cape Town Fellowship and is involved in a wide range of work, from writing to design projects. His time with us at the UnSchool helped him take off the “band-aids” and reframe his approach to the great work he’s involved with.

Can you give us an introduction to yourself and your work?

Hi, I'm Tim. My main role is as the editor and a board member of Gippslandia, a community not-for-profit newspaper that I co-founded a couple of years ago. I'm also on the editorial team of Good Sport and Make Running magazines, and a member of the thr34d5 ('threads') strategic design studio. Succinctly, my work involves storytelling and design-thinking, which I really enjoy.

Good Sport magazine

Make Running magazine

What motivates you to do the work that you do?

Gippslandia was created in response to the announcement that a large coal mine was closing not far from my childhood home in Gippsland, south-eastern Australia. There was a pervading atmosphere of negativity in the community, on social media and in the press. The team behind Gippslandia felt that the region really has a lot more going for it and thought that a free, street press publication that only presents positive and innovative stories had the potential to change the prevailing narrative.

This motivation has evolved for me now, as I've come to better understand the power shared storytelling for all members of our community. My goal is to provide a platform for optimistic stories from our region that may have previously gone unsaid.

How did you find out about the UnSchool, and what motivated you to come?

Honestly, I forget how I initially heard about the UnSchool. It must have been through some fortuitous procrastination online. At the time, I'd recently finished a Master’s in Design by Data (computational design) and was reading more about systems theory. I felt that the UnSchool could provide a clearer introduction to systems theory and then assist me in linking my ideas around design and positive social change.

Also, South Africa is my second home. I believe in its immense potential, and the lineup of speakers that were involved in the Cape Town Fellowship was too good to miss for their ability to encourage this belief.

What was your experience at the UnSchool like?

Challenging, inspiring and confronting. I still reflect on it often. Every night, I went to sleep buzzing with ideas, yet totally exhausted (but definitely not hungry — the food was epic!). The UnSchool team and their speakers did an incredible job of fostering a curious and inclusive atmosphere that seemingly allowed everyone to collaborate openly. For example, it allowed us (the students) to ask our mentors personal questions and for them to provide thoughtful and honest responses. This cut through the shit and meant that we could all have a richer experience.

What was the main take away you had from coming to the UnSchool?

That you can make a difference.

Tell us more about your initiative(s), and how is it all going?

While everything is currently following a positive path, we face a battle to become financially sustainable for the future. Anyone that's ever dabbled in print publishing will understand that it’s largely a passion project and no longer your pathway to gold-plated toilet seats. Yet, you need your projects to make money because you need them to continue running to see the benefits — and you also need to eat.

Financial sustainability can help stave off personal burnout too. So that's our current challenge: trying to ensure the publications and the studio can continue to operate smoothly into the future.

How did the UnSchool help you start/evolve it?

UnSchool helped solidify the passion behind the ideas. It also gave me more confidence in reaching out to different groups in our community. There were no longer any excuses for not trying to achieve positive change.

While it's not directly related to a specific project, my time with UnSchool and the skills we learnt assist in solving or exploring challenges every day. My approach has been reframed, as I 'get more comfortable' with problems. No more band-aids to things!

How have you amplified this change you do in the world?

At a simplistic level, the decisions we've made allow us to produce more newspapers and reach a larger audience. I think the essence of the stories contained in the paper is more distilled now too, which hopefully gives them more punch. Not every article is going to change the reader's worldview, but as a growing body of work, they feel stronger. 

The work of thr34d5.org is expanding, and the increased credibility assists our applied research programs, such as shifting people's perception of clothing from one of consumption to that of care (our attempt at addressing 'fast fashion') or exploring how to reconnect people with the water cycle. Our voice is still small, but we believe in the value of pursuing our aims as a team.

Kombucha fabric

How can people engage with, support, or follow your work?

You can come to Melbourne or Gippsland and grab Gippslandia from a cafe or art space that supports us! Otherwise, please check out gippslandia.com.au and @gippslandia on socials.

Then there's thr34d5.org (similar on social media) and head to our Wikifactory page to get our new kombucha recipes, which you can use to grow your own textiles. goodsportmagazine.com and makerunning.com are great places to visit too. Thank you.

Garments made with kombucha fabric

Any other thoughts you want to share?

One of the coolest aspects of UnSchool is being able to spend time with a bunch of rad people that will inspire you!

Tim and the UnSchool Cape Town Fellowship

Alumni Zoë Palmer: Environmental Impact Assessment & Future Change

Zoë Palmer

We first met Zoë, an environmental scientist and “people person”, at our Cape Town Fellowship in May 2018 and most recently we reconnected when she came as a co-host for our Kuching Fellowship! 

Zoë feels at home interacting with others and believes in putting this social skill to work — as evidenced by her decision to join us at the Kuching Fellowship. We recently talked with Zoë to find out more about her new projects, how her first UnSchool experience helped her activate her changemaking abilities and what she sees as being important for activating change.

Introducing Alumni Zoe Palmer!

Can you give us an introduction to yourself and your work?

I’m originally from a small academic town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa called Makhanda (formally Grahamstown). I’ve been living in Cape Town for the last six years, after graduating from Rhodes University in 2013 where I studied environmental science and economics. As a young graduate, I was fortunate to find a job quickly at global engineering consulting and advisory firm, Aurecon, as an environmental scientist. 

I spent the last five years there, working on environmental impact assessments and embedding change in the organisation through design thinking. In July 2019, a five year itch pushed me to resign and find something new to do. Just two months in, I’m still figuring what that means, but I guess the central theme is trying to leverage the opportunities I’m given through my social networks to challenge big lumpy systems by making my way in, and/or connect others to opportunities they might not have without a supportive network.

What motivates you to do the work that you do?

In South Africa, every day I wake up it feels like there is work to be done. The legacy of Apartheid still lingers 25 years on, sometimes from a social perspective (e.g. racism), sometimes from a spatial perspective (e.g. in Cape Town the most marginalised communities spend roughly 45% of their income on public transport that doesn’t function properly). Every global challenge we face as a country is underpinned by the triple threat – high levels of inequality, poverty, and unemployment. 

As someone who has grown up with the privilege of feasibly earning in the top 2% of the country (±>$1200 per month) at the age of 28, it’s easy to get frustrated with the system and want to escape — it’s what so many people do. 

However, there’s a strong pull for me to stay, which is increased every time I hear a creative new way that people are responding to their own challenges.

How did you find out about the UnSchool, and what motivated you to come?

I think it was 2016 when I first came across the UnSchool through the discovery (random Google search) of the illustrated Circular Systems Design handbook. At the time, I was just starting to learn about designing for innovation and was searching for more. The handbook resonated with me, so I quickly followed Leyla and The UnSchool on every platform and continued passively seeing what was happening on the other side of the world via my newsfeeds. 

As soon as I saw the call for applications to attend the Cape Town Fellowship, I knew I had to be there. I couldn’t afford the fees myself, so I asked my company to pay for it — applying via cartoon. and I’m extremely happy that they agreed!

The Cape Town fellows and UnSchool Team

What was your experience at the UnSchool like?

It was quite unlike anything else I’ve ever been a part of. It was challenging, but encouraging, emotionally draining, but fun. It was inspiring and useful, especially in the role of a sparking some serious self-reflection. 

Being a facilitator, I most admired the way in which the experience was designed to create a safe and open space to challenge very deep, messy social systems like gangsterism, societal divides etc. Despite long and tiring days, we were kept sustained with delicious food throughout the week – there’s an art behind managing people’s hunger and energy levels, and it was nailed.

I’m sure I could go into far more stories about my experience, but nothing would capture it as beautifully and concisely as the video that was created.

What was the main take away you had from coming to the UnSchool?

I learnt many things from the different individuals in the group, and about designing workshop experiences. I think the key thing I learnt from the information taught was the concept of designing to disrupt a system vs designing for innovation. I think designing for innovation can be a great thing if you’re coming up with human-centric solutions to problems that affect the lives of many (especially those less fortunate than you), but often the process is heavily weighted on its role for making a company more money. 

I also always felt like sustainability was an added element to it – like a side optional feature; the Disruptive Design Method, however, embeds this in its core. I also really appreciate the level of responsibility introduced through learning more about unintended consequences and cognitive biases, etc.

Tell us more about your initiative(s), and how is it all going?

I’m working part time for the University of Cape Town (UCT) under the Vice Chancellor’s Futures Think Tank. Tertiary institutions are under pressure globally to change, and this is amplified in South Africa by student protests regarding fees and access from the last few years. UCT started questioning how they could better respond to change, and quickly learnt that they needed to take a leading role in changing the system, not just responding. 

My colleague, Abbas Jamie, and I were appointed in July 2019 to help the Futures Think Tank gain some traction and turn the thinking into action. We’re doing some agitating ground work this year, with the hope of creating something, like a multidisciplinary network of change agents across the university, that we can train up and use to catalyze change within the existing system. We recognize that it’s not an easy task, but we’re currently testing the waters and there’s some widespread support.

Zoe and her colleague Abbas Jamie

One of the projects that creates a neat centrepiece between my old job and my work with UCT is a design process that we rolled out with the Higher Education Facilities Manager Association (HEFMA). HEFMA is a network that connects 28 universities across Southern Africa via the facilities managers, i.e. the people who shape and manage the infrastructure on the campuses. At the HEFMA conference last year, a question was posed to the audience asking how they could ensure university campuses were more mindful of sustainability and the possible smart/tech solutions available to managing facilities. As a team from Aurecon, we designed four workshops over a year to carry this question and work towards a sustainability plan for each university. It was great to see how the process showed the importance of human-centric design in the layout of the precincts, along with the importance of sticking with a problem long enough to love it. We also challenged the notion of solving only a water, energy, or even waste problem, by demonstrating the business case for solving multiple problems with an integrated solution. I sound like a solid consultant here now, but I’m hopeful that it will lead to better designed campuses – and less waste!

The design community in Cape Town is bustling and very mixed. The city held the World Design Capital title in 2014, and has recently become part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Finding my way in as an outsider has been really interesting, and I’ve really enjoyed the approach that Open Design Afrika is taking in terms of changing the narrative of design as an ecosystem of products and things and fame and exclusivity, and rather demonstrating how the principles can be applied to everyday life, and that wherever you come from you can use design to solve problems for your basic needs. I’m supporting ODA a bit in the run-up to the Festival happening in October 2019. I love the feature that they’ve held free entrance to the main events ensuring accessibility, and also the way they promote the importance of the makers community. This year they’re also introducing a new concept called the Wetopia Academy in Cape Town, which brings together a range of “city-making” stakeholders. 

How did the UnSchool help you start/evolve it?

The UnSchool Fellowship was mostly a personal development process for me. It unearthed a way of thinking that I hadn’t found anywhere else, and the global connections made me feel less alone. The network introduced me to a whole world of cool new ideas, like the Disruption Innovation Festival and Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which inspired me to start looking for other opportunities in South Africa, and where they don’t exist, to create them.

How have you amplified this change you do in the world?

So far it still feels like I’m trying to work out what change I’m trying to make before trying to amplify it too widely, but I guess the easy reach is the mentoring I’ve been doing over the last four years. I feel that it’s all good and well for me to do something as an individual, and great if I can influence someone else to do the same. But what if I can spread it wider and teach what I’ve learnt too? 

I volunteer for two mentorship groups, Great Girls and the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, who both focus on youth groups. Great Girls focuses on high school girls (roughly aged 16-18) from two disadvantaged areas in Cape Town (Lavender Hill and Belhar) and teaches these groups the skills necessary to find meaningful employment after high school. We focus on female empowerment, getting into tertiary institutions, gaining skills for interviews etc, as well as skills that aren’t taught at schools in South Africa – introductions to basic budgeting, tax, and labour law. The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation has a bigger reach and focuses on developing high potential learners across the country to one day become entrepreneurs, hopefully contributing to job creation in the long term.

How can people engage with, support, or follow your work?

Directly is probably the easiest way. I’ve created a website at www.palmerish.com which has direct contact information and social media links. I’m hoping to share more stories on Medium in the near future about my projects

Any other thoughts you want to share?

Seeing as it was a one-off occasion, it didn’t really fit above as an initiative, so I might as well share it here… In May 2019 I was asked back to my high-school (that offers design as a high-school subject) to serve as their Designer in Residence. They wanted to know more about Disruptive Design! I knew then that it would be the perfect opportunity to team up with Tim Leeson, who was a fellow with me, and together we taught eight 45-minute lessons to students of varying ages. It was a fun and hopefully inspiring session where we introduced the basics of systems thinking and designing for change. I hope we managed to influence some of the younger learners to take design up as a subject!  We started each session with this video, which although a bit dated now, captures an important message about realizing the role you can have in designing the future.

Zoe and fellow Nehaa at the end of the wonderful fellowship week in Kuching,

The UnSchool Kuching Fellowship Recap

UnSchool Fellowship Number 10 happened in Kuching, Malaysia on the island of Borneo between the 17th and 23rd of November, 2019. The Kuching cohort included seventeen fellows from nine different countries (meet them here). Read all about the incredible adventure into all things systems change over on our fellowship blog >

Alumni Lourdes Martinez: Strategy & Innovation for Change

Lourdes Martinez

Lourdes, a designer from Peru, has come to the UnSchool a couple times, first joining Emma in Denmark for the Post Disposable Workshop, then Leyla in Portugal for our Educator Training on the CO Project farm. She also featured her work during one of the 2018 DIF sessions, as it is both fascinating and inspiring. We asked her to share her work and insights gleaned from the UnSchool with us.

Hi Lourdes! Can you give us an introduction to yourself and your work? 

I see myself as an abstract human trying to create a positive impact in the world. Human-centered design and sustainability are both parts of my retina. Ah, and my closer buddies call me Lou or Lulu. 

Currently, I co-lead (along with two partners) Amable, a Strategy and Innovation Consulting Firm. In Spanish “Amable” means kindness; still, many relate the name to love ( ̈amable ̈ means lovable too). 

At Amable, we design digital and non-digital solutions for our clients using human-centered methodologies like Service Design and UX, which, combined with other frameworks like Disruptive Design or Systems Thinking, giving us the chance to enhance our users’ lives the Amable way. 

But more important than any of methodologies we use, the core and most important part of Amable is the 26 amazing humans, aka “Amablitos”, who work with us. It's because of them that Amable can accomplish its most important mission: make the world more Amable. 

What motivates you to do the work that you do? 

Change. This can be done in many ways — for example, by changing the mindset of people in a corporation, many of whom have worked for years (or even decades) without ever interacting with a client on a face-to-face basis. Enabling a way for people to connect by involving them in some rich human-centered and qualitative research sensibilizes them and completely changes the way they make decisions. 

Motivational bonus: having fun along the way and singing some bachata (or maybe reggaeton)! 

How did you find out about the UnSchool, and what motivated you to come? 

Google made the match! And I am so thankful. I was actually looking for alternative education related to sustainability and design, and I found the Post Disposable Workshop in Denmark last year. What can be more fun that learning what to do with trash?  

After that, I was part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s DIF Festival as a featured speaker with other UnSchool Alumni, and a couple of weeks ago, I attended the Educational Program in the CO Project Farm in Portugal (this was an out-of-this-world-experience). 

Lourdes with the Educator Training team on the CO project farm

What was your experience at the UnSchool like? 

Bold! The UnSchool team not only gives students unique tools, they also help every student in a very customized way to learn how to self-assess themselves. Once you start to know yourself, your strengths and your flaws, everything starts falling into place. Trust me, somehow it just happens. 

What was the main take away you had from coming to the UnSchool? 

Inspiration, always. I’ve been to two separate and very different UnSchool programs, and every time I come back home, I do it with a big smile, with lots of hope, and with a ton of ideas of what to do next. 

Tell us more about your initiative(s), and how is it all going? 

We ́re very happy with what Amable as a firm and as a community has accomplished. We are giving a particular importance in education, as it ́s vital for all Amablitos to receive constant training and learn from each other. Also, leadership, teamwork and humility are qualities we encourage. 

How did the UnSchool help you start/evolve it? 

The UnSchool has helped in two particular ways. First of all, methods like Disruptive Design are tools most Amablitos know by now, and they apply them in different contexts and projects. For me, it's a game changer as it can be used for different purposes. 

On the other hand, the experiential and instinctive way of teaching is something we have replicated in Amable. For example, by doing a team-leadership exercise like cooking pizzas from scratch. Or even with simple practices like sharing how grateful you are with someone you work with. 

How have you amplified this change you do in the world? 

I believe amplifying change is something you seek everyday. Positive change can be seen even if you make someone smile, for a second. 

Now, my main sphere of influence is Amable, and as long as there is at least one Amablito trying to design a better world, I can put a check to this question. 

How can people engage with, support, or follow your work? 

Just send me an email, and if you ́re around Lima, I will be more than happy to have a nice Peruvian coffee. You can also find us in the digital world at amable.com

Any other thoughts you want to share? 

Sometimes small changes can totally improve your perspective in life — for example, being thankful every morning for having a new chance for making a kinder world. It doesn't matter if it's either through design, or just smiling to someone else. 

Alumni Neha Rao: Sustainable Textile Design with Hemp & Soot

Sustainable textile designer Neha Rao

Neha, a sustainable textile designer who is currently based in Mumbai, found out about the UnSchool from one of our other alumni, Priyam, who came to the Berlin fellowship and then went on to become our host on the Mumbai fellowship.

All of our alumni are eligible to host or volunteer on other programs. Sometimes they do so because they want to know “how the magic is made”, while other times it’s because they want to share the incredible experience with others, such as when our alumni become hosts and invite us to their city (as was the case with alumnus Lymun in our upcoming Kuching Fellowship!). And, as part of our new certification system, co-hosting is part of the learning experience. 

When Neha found out about our Cape Town fellowship, she arranged to crowdfund her way from Mumbai in order to participate in the exciting program. Her campaign successfully supported more than half her costs, and she was able to join the incredible cohort. Already deeply interested and involved in sustainability projects, Neha was an insightful and valuable contribution to the group, and later she was also featured on one of the UnSchool sessions of the DIF.

We caught up with her last month to find out more about her new projects and how the UnSchool has helped her activate her changemaking abilities.

Please give us an introduction to yourself and your work:

I am Neha Rao, a sustainable textile designer, currently based in Mumbai.  I currently work with Bombay Hemp Company, India's premier industrial hemp and cannabis organization that provides hemp-based products through sustainable agriculture and artisan empowerment. I am in charge of the fabric department called Hemp Fabric Lab. 

Soot print on reused silk
Image: Neha Rao
Model: Simoul Alva

My experience in the fashion industry changed my perspective. This firsthand experience in this highly-polluting industry made me more passionate about becoming an active change agent. I researched more about sustainability, particularly the materials and the impact of textile techniques on the environment, as well as the social and cultural impacts, including the effect on human behavior. The basic goal of this exploration was to bring a concrete shift in perspective. The creative outcome of this research was the project 'SOOT'. 

Gradations
Image: Neha Rao

What motivates you to do the work that you do?

As a textile designer, my goal was to put the brakes on disposable and environment-degrading fashion. A majority of the printing and dyeing on the garments we so frequently wear and dispose of is achieved through toxic chemical dyes that pollute our waterways. Driven by the desire to find an alternative to noxious chemicals and fast fashion, I converted soot, a common air pollutant, into a non-toxic printing dye for garments.

Soot printed upholstery
Image: Kartik Krishna
Furniture design in collaboration with Aaditya Chilpulkar

How did you find out about the UnSchool, and what motivated you to come?

I found about UnSchool via a close friend Priyam Vadaliya, who has been an integral part of the USschool fellowship previously. Since then I have followed  UnSchool closely. I was at a juncture in life where I felt I needed help with career expansion and exercise design thinking principles, and I wanted to get a fresh perspective and collaborate on new projects.

What was your experience at the UnSchool like?

The UnSchool fellowship helped me immensely, as it is a platform where people from different fields participate. It made the knowledge sharing experience so rich and varied. The insights and experiences gained during this program improved my capability of problem-solving and helped me to achieve my goal of being a sustainable changemaker. During the program, there was sharing and exchanging of varied ideas. Everyone in this network was so passionate about the work they do and eager to learn. I did feel it was an intense 7 days, after which there was a sense of achievement. I was like a sponge absorbing information and ideas as much as I could.

The Cape Town Fellowship Cohort and Team

What was the main take away you had from coming to the UnSchool?

Changemakers from different walks of life have really inspired me in multiple ways. I felt nothing is impossible. I can make a difference in my own way and that one should not be restricted by an idea but should explore methods to expand the application. 

Tell us more about your initiative(s), and how is it all going?

I am the first and only textile designer in India working on converting industrial pollutant waste by-product into a value-added resource with principles of sustainability & circular economy via fabric & paper printing applications, currently developing intelligent apparel with Graphitic advance material. In this one year, I was fortunate to get commissioned work from different artists and designers. From fabrics to now paper, I am able to expand my technique. I feel I have more clarity as to how I wish to sustain this project. 

My job at Bombay Hemp Company is to enable the makers and creators to adopt this sustainable material — hemp. I have been able to apply my learnings to research, marketing, product development, sales, education, etc.; in short, my role is multifaceted. My current project at HFL is to train the handloom weavers in the Northern part of India to achieve a lighter weight of hemp handloom fabrics and also includes exploring sustainable practices and processes, achieving unique blends. Hemp Handloom is an under-explored market at the moment and I’m hoping that this step goes a long way to improve sustainable practices.    

“I felt nothing is impossible. I can make a difference in my own way and that one should not be restricted by an idea but should explore methods to expand the application.”

— Neha Rao

How did the UnSchool help you start/evolve it?

After UnSchool, the Disruptive Design Methods have become ingrained in my design processes. I feel my methodology and approach to problem-solving irrespective of the magnitude of the problem has developed towards a more holistic approach.  

How have you amplified this change you do in the world?

I am a member of a zero waste group. This group is a constant source of inspiration where we share and exchange ideas to inculcate and promote a zero-waste lifestyle. Although, I would say I haven't reached the ideal zero-waste lifestyle. I am trying to make those small switches in my lifestyle. One of my peers made a very strong case that in order to make these changes one has to start with what is the most difficult and sensitive area and slowly work towards the ultimate goal. The concept of zero waste resonates with my earlier project on Soot. This past year has been life-changing. Post UnSchool, I have been more involved with sharing my knowledge with individuals at school, colleges, and at the peer group level. 

How can people engage with, support, or follow your work?

Please feel free to reach out to me on the following platform:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neharao5

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sootbyneharao/

Blog: https://sootcolourant.wordpress.com

Alumni Loo Ly Mun: Ecological Empathy & Community Resilience

Meet Loo Ly Mun (Lymun), a social and environmental changemaker based in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia. He attended our UnSchool Mumbai Fellowship in November 2017 and will now be our host for the next UnSchool program happening in November in Kuching!

Lymun and his partner Nisha run Ecocentric Transitions, an organization that works at “empowering individuals through skill-building and ecological empathy, strengthening community resilience through localized initiatives and relationship-building, and guiding early adopters in industry to champion sustainability in their core strategies.” 

The exciting thing about our fellowships being hosted by our past alumni is that we get an incredible insider perspective of the city and community we are exploring. That’s why when Lymun invited us to come to Kuching, we jumped at the chance to collaborate with him. It’s part of the UnSchool philosophy to make sure that in any place we run programs, we are invited into that space and not just parachuting in, and that local fellows help produce and run the entire complex adventure that we co-design! Hosts find the amazing local mentors, seek out unique locations and design local adventures for us to explore the social and environmental change examples that ignite creative change in our participating fellows.

We embody participatory design in all that we do, and that includes designing programs and creating experiences that take into account a diversity of local contexts, places, and people. The idea of going to Borneo (Kuching is the capital of Malaysian Borneo) excited us as it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. We are also aware that it’s an environmentally sensitive area, and our program will have unintended impacts. So working with our local hosts and producers helps ensure that our mission of having as much positive impact as possible, to contribute to the community in a beneficial way, and to mitigate any of the more undesirable impacts we may have, is achieved.

Kuching is actually the capital of Sarawak (a state in Malaysia) and offers several co-working spaces, fascinating insights into the region, and the opportunity to connect with those (like Lymun and Nisha) who are doing amazing work in sustainability and education for the area.

Borneo is one of the most dense biodiverse areas in the world

We recently checked in with Lymun to see hear about what impact the fellowship has had on him, why he wanted to bring the program to his hometown, and how he’s using what he learned from his time with the UnSchool. 

Hi Lymun! Can you give us an introduction to yourself and why you do what you do? 

“I’m a homo sapien. Was and always will be. I was one of those little kids that grew up with dinosaur books who could name almost all of them. Living with pets most of my life and being active in a scout troop nurtured my adoration of mother nature, along with the many creatures and vegetation that brings life within it and all around us. My natural tendencies toward science subjects led me to study electrical and electronics engineering. Didn’t like it, delved into other fields of work that’s unrelated, ventured into the dense jungles of Borneo for a 10-week expedition, found new interest in people, behaviour, and team building, came back to work in the corporate world, and then fast forward about a decade later, I founded Ecocentric Transitions (ET) with my partner Nisha. 

Nisha and Lymun of Ecocentric Transitions

Ecocentric was born out of our hearts to preserve our beloved environment after witnessing the degradation of our favourite camping spots and hiking trails that we visited over the years, littered with trash, and overbuilt with development. 

To encourage sustainable living habits among our family, friends, peers, and the general population of planet Earth who have access to modern-day facilities like the internet, we started learning and teaching various workshops that could potentially save the human race from itself —  like gardening vegetables, making compost bins, harvesting rainwater, carbon cycles, permaculture, pinhole camera making, and many other slow- life type, repurposed base weekend explorations of the world as we know it.

This was when we discovered that kids are quite impressionable. New mission: brainwash children into becoming champions for the environment, in an ethical way. Through play and a lot of encouragement. Our work now mostly focuses on service design and experiential education programming.”

What made you come to the UnSchool and how did you find out about it?

“An opportunity to meet not one but two UNEP Champions of the Earth (Leyla and Afroz Shah) and also some of the most brilliant people in this realm of expertise? Yes, please. 

I also wanted to learn more about systems design and how our brains have an important role to play in all of this sustainable stuff. Leyla’s TED talk titled Paper beats plastic? How to rethink environmental folklore was an eye-opener, and it rattled my understanding of what I know about sustainability. It made me wonder what else irks my unexamined assumptions when it comes to the everyday things that we use. This then started my research into the topic of systems design and also a bit of stalking Leyla’s work, in which we finally found the UnSchool program in the vastness of cyberspace.”

What was your experience like in the Fellowship?

“My motivation to be a part of UnSchool was to validate what I knew and believed about sustainability, and spending time with my cohort was inspiring. The energy was very positive from day one, leaders in their own right — everybody shared similar values and brought a diversity of skills and insights to the discussions. This was a bonus on top of the amazing sessions led by Leyla and Dagny.

Doing the pre-work is important, as it allowed me to better digest the content. I really appreciated the observation trips across Mumbai where we traveled in a school bus (dancing included) to observe and investigate established ‘systems’, like Dhobi Ghat, where a whole township of people manage laundry at the mammoth scale for the whole city.  Observing the working environment and living quarters and then reflecting on environmental issues, economic value, and social equity against my world view was sobering and challenging. It was also very inspiring to listen to a small group of very passionate children living in the slums of Dharavi talking about creating great change for themselves, their families, and the environment around them. 

Equally impressive was participating in the world’s largest volunteer-run beach clean-up. To top it all off, we were invited into the home of the person that made it all happen, which was even more amazing. We were welcomed by dozens of people from the local beach clean-up community where all of us packed tightly in a small studio apartment. In there, they shared great stories of their efforts to fight waste pollution on their beach home, all the while prepping dinner, socializing, and then eating it all together. And of course, there was a little crazy dancing before we said our farewells. It is truly great to see a leader share their home and celebrate each success with their community. Like a big family. 

The 24-hour no-sleep Design challenge —  we won the design challenge, yay! The time pressure created urgency, pushing our diverse team to band together. This proved how important it is to define the right question; we spent 70% of the time defining the question/challenge and 30% on developing the solution. Our mentors were great filters in instigating our solutions. 

I also appreciate some of the exercises that made us look deep within ourselves and question the very nature of our being. This has reinforced my sense of purpose and drive for the things that I do.

Sharing these personal motives with some of the fellows made me feel a lot more connected to one another in a way that we all want good things to happen in this world that we share, no matter where we come from.”

What was the main take away you had from coming to the UnSchool Fellowship?

“Knowing that we are a part of a network of people that value the same things as we do and are keen to collaborate across the world reinforces our beliefs and sense of connectedness in tackling global issues of this magnitude. This makes me feel assured and inspired in the work that we do as a collective.”

How have you amplified your change in the world you do now?

“We have learned to choose our collaborators, design work based on leverage points, and affect change on a bigger scale.”

Any other thoughts you want to share?

“We, as the human species, need to rise up against the unending hunger that’s devouring the consciousness of the planet. That hunger is called, capitalism!…. ok scrap that. Maybe the next interview.

It helps to take a few steps back and re-examine our assumptions. James Lovelock who defined the Gaia Theory evaluated what it takes to sustain life and discovered that the planet is a self-regulating organism. Everything is connected, even at the subatomic level. Everyone has a role to play in creating the future that we dream of. Let love and hope be our guide to every decision we make today, no matter how big or how small. Speak with the heart. Peace.”

To learn more about Lymun’s work and follow along with Ecocentric’s updates, check out their website: Ecocentric Transitions or follow them on social: Instagram or FB.

You can also learn more about RIMBA The Card Game, which is dedicated to 30 animals from Peninsular and Borneo Malaysia and aspires to help people recognize the various animals in an attempt to raise awareness following mass rapid deforestation and flooding, on social here: Instagram or FB

————————————————————————————————————————————

Hurry! Applications are open for our 10th Emerging Leaders Fellowship program for just a few more days! Get yours in today to learn more about this issue and to discover the tools for making a positive impact by design.  

Alumni Bao Yen: Zero Waste Airline Transformation

Bao Yen is a Hong Kong-based flight attendant who is on a mission to help make the aviation industry more sustainable.

We first met Bao when she attended our Regenerative Systems Design workshop with Leyla Acaroglu and Laura Storm last Summer on the CO Project Farm. She inspired many people with her story of working to end plastic waste in the airline industry and shared more of her passion for this through her UnSchool Alumni Disruptive Innovation Festival (DIF) session.

Boa at the CO Project Farm Program in 2018

Bao’s change-making story begins with a whale — you probably can guess where this is going, given the condition of our oceans and plastic pollution. One day while she was on a break from flying, a coworker showed her a picture of a dead whale found in Norway that had 30 plastic bags in its stomach. This powerful image stuck with her, and after going back to her hotel room and searching for stories about how this came to be, it catalyzed a huge transformation within Bao. The impacts of single-use plastic and the catastrophic outcomes of all the disposable stuff that the airline industry perpetuated on each flight suddenly struck her as being a significant area of change, one that she had some power and agency over influencing. In that moment, the heart of Bao’s mission started: to make positive environmental change through her sphere of influence  — the airline industry.

What is amazing is that just recently, the Australian airline Qantas did the world's first zero waste flight, and many airlines have started to ban plastic straws and drink stirrers. There are small changes in a massive issue, but one that is coming back out because people are demanding changes. There is so much power in one person standing up and asking for something different, and that is what is so inspiring about Bao’s story.

Bao started out by questioning how she interacted with customers and how this impacted their use of single-use plastics. By offering or not offering the plastic stirrer, she found that many people didn't want it (although it is usually just given without asking). She watched to see how her colleagues recycled and was shocked to discover that many were not. So, all of this initial reflective observation research resulted in her initiating a program within her airline to raise awareness around the importance of the cabin crew pre-sorting materials for recycling. She explains that even those items in the recycling bin often end up in landfills because they are contaminated with other non-recyclable waste.

Since beginning this initiative to raise awareness and train the cabin crews on proper recycling practices, the airline has seen steady improvements in recycling and other sustainability matters.

Bao also had advice for everyday travelers who can take actions to reduce their waste impacts while flying. Just remember the 4 R’s:

Reduce: Bring your own reusables on the flight so that you don’t use any single-use plastic.

Reuse: Use the same pieces of plastic throughout the duration of the flight.

Recycle: Ensure that your plastic is clean and placed in the proper recycling bin.

Reach out: Talk to the airline directly. Use your consumer power to demand action on single-use plastic.

The project Bao has helped to activate

We recently checked in with Bao to see how things are going and hear more about how she’s using what she learned from her time with the UnSchool. Read our short Q&A below!

How do you describe yourself?

“I used to think I was quite insignificant. I didn’t know my life purpose and I was very unhappy with my job. The dead whale led me to an unbelievably beautiful journey full of opportunities and endless possibilities. It gave me a strong purpose to live and resolve the challenges. I now live by the motto that I AM the change I want to see in the world. Every challenge brings an opportunity. If we have a positive growth mindset and align ourselves with mother nature, we will thrive with the environment and live a truly fulfilled life.”

What made you come to the UnSchool?

“I firstly heard about Dr. Leyla Acaroglu through an entrepreneurial friend. He founded a reusable coffee cup brand called Pokito, and his mission is to save billions of paper cups. He told me he was inspired by Dr. Leyla’s Ted Talk, Paper beats plastic? How to rethink environmental folklore.  I watched that talk and it completely changed how I looked at sustainability. I then followed her page and got further inspired by her Co Project Farm, so I decided to do a workshop and creative retreat there. Turns out it was one of the most amazing and mind-nurturing trips I ever had!

 Tell us more about your initiative and how it is going?

“I started with raising awareness on our internal digital platform. When I saw something that needed to be changed, I would write an article and tag people who are in charge of that area. For example, our laundry company used to cover the washed uniforms with plastic bags. After I posted a discussion and had my colleagues’ involvement, the company removed the practice and millions of plastic bags will be saved.

Another example is that on rainy days, we used to provide one-off plastic bags for wet umbrellas in the office buildings. After I raised the concern and worked with relevant parties, the headquarter now has a reusable umbrella drying facility. Not long ago we stopped giving single used plastic bags, cutleries, and containers in our canteen. There is a big cultural and awareness shift in my airline since I started three years ago. Our voice is very powerful, and I encourage everyone to raise their voice in a respectful and helpful manner in their platforms.”

How did the UnSchool help you start/evolve it?

“Systems mapping and thinking* are so helpful in approaching the environmental challenges. They enable me to see the bigger picture, find the pain point, and come up with an effective solution. I also learnt from the workshop that waste is essentially a design problem and thus, we can resolve the challenge by changing the design. I used that principle to approach the in-flight waste challenge, and it has been so helpful. Staying on the Co Farm and being with inspirational people, close to nature and animals, learning that everything is interconnected really opened up my mind and heart. I loved the creative retreat so much!”

*To discover more about systems thinking, check out this course at UnSchool Online. or read any of Leyla’s articles on the topic here  

How can people engage with, support, or follow your work?

“If you have creative solutions or sources for resolving the aviation waste challenge, you can reach me via my email. Also, please write to the airlines you fly with and tell them how much you want them to run sustainably. Constructive feedback and useful solutions offered by passengers are always welcomed!”

Thank you, Bao, for activating your agency and being a positive contributor to creative problem solving in the sky!

Alumni Laura Francois: Sustainability Through Creative Interventions

Image courtesy of Laura Francois

During the past 4+ years that the UnSchool of Disruptive Design has been helping people make positive social and environmental change, and on the journey we’ve met some seriously incredible humans that are dedicating their lives and careers to creative problem solving for a better future.

We’re excited to share some of their stories here in our Journal to show you how they’re applying the Disruptive Design Method and all the different kinds of positive impacts they’re creating.

Today, we’re showcasing Laura Francois, a Canadian community engager, storyteller and impact strategist focused on the social impact space in Canada, India, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Singapore.

Her UnSchool Story

We first met Laura when she attended an advanced training in Circular Systems Design at UnSchool Online. She had been working intensively with textile artisans from low socio-economic backgrounds, exploring methods of economic opportunity and environmental sustainability by connecting them with the wider fashion industry. Then she decided to get more focused and level up her change-making and so she signed up for our Online Advanced Circular Design Training program in January 2018.

“THE UnSchool continually reminds me to question what I think I know. So much of my work is about awareness building, and starting conversations around sustainability with industries and sectors that all speak a very different language from one another. My experience with THE UnSchool built the groundwork for me to experiment with these conversations, thinking about speedy growth and vitality as a false sense of change. Slow, steady and always questioning wins the race”

Laura was already doing inspiring things, having been highly focused on the sustainability in the fashion industry for many years leading the Fashion Revolution movement in Malaysia and Singapore. But Laura felt a disconnect between the general views of sustainability and what the individuals working along the fashion supply chain were witnessing and experiencing.

Frustrated with the status quo of conversations around sustainability, Laura was looking to break the cycle of greenwashing and gain perspective on the industry she was navigating.  She decided to join UnSchool program to gain a new perspective on the same old problem, and she explains how she walked away from the training with new habits and ideas that she continues to exercise every day. Laura told us, “Regardless of the type of project, learning to take on the more detailed, systemic, and multidimensional perspectives of how things work (or don’t work!) inspired me to keep creativity and design at the forefront of my social and environmental impact projects”.

Creative Projects and Interventions

Laura experienced a turning point in her work when she discovered an abandoned garment factory in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, that had recently gone bankrupt. She stumbled upon hundreds of thousands of tons of textiles still in the factory that had no plan for their end of life. Listen to her share this story and more in our 2018 DIF showcase. This experience inspired her to begin her project Clothing the Loop, a collaboration with Von Wong, who is an internationally renowned photographer that is “notorious for documenting his intrepid adventures” — and who wears the same clothes every single day!

In a series of three art installations, the team created three giant structures that honor the natural resources most greatly affected by fashion: the air, the water, and the trees. There in the abandoned factory, they created three installations: a tornado, a waterfall, and a tree, using basic household materials and the clothes that they’d found. Their goal was to give life to 2,500 kilos of textiles — which is the amount of clothing that the average person wears in a lifetime — while showing the world the impact of our everyday fashion choices. Though the installations were eventually taken down, the project inspired Laura to work with the new building owners to infuse the history of the factory within the space and to make a statement about textile waste by building functional co-working spaces out of the leftover fabric.

Following the same idea as Clothing the Loop, Laura and Von collaborated again to create “The Tallest Closet in the World,” a 9 meter tall immersive installation at the Mall of Arabia in Cairo, Egypt, that showcased 3,000 garments as a visual representation of how much clothing each one of us, on average, uses in our lifetime. The clothing donations also support refugees in Cairo.

“In 2009, the Tak Fak garment factory in Cambodia closed due to bankruptcy leaving hundreds without compensation. According to local reports, some 130 Cambodian garment factories closed that year, leaving more than 30,000 workers jobless and an additional 30,000 temporarily out of work. That wasn't all. The Tak Fak factory closed leaving thousands of bags of unfinished clothing behind it's doors. For almost a decade, the clothing just sat there. That is, until October 2017 when we walked in for the first time.”

Tackling Plastic Waste

Laura has recently expanded her work to include awareness about the global impact of plastic waste. Plastikphobia is a brand new exhibit by Von Wong and Joshua Goh that Laura co-produced. The goal of this project was to answer one question: What percent of single-use plastic cups do we Take-Out vs. Eat-In?

The incredible art exhibition was open to the public at the Sustainable Singapore Gallery at the Marina Barrage from the 7th of March to the 18th of April, 2019.

“Plastikophobia is an immersive art installation made from 18,000 plastic cups collected from local food centers across Singapore to raise awareness for single-use plastic pollution.”

So many of the UnSchool Alumni do incredible things and we love to share their ideas and interventions to help inspier others to do more creative change-making work. If you are passionate about making change then come to an UnSchool program or sign up for one of our online classes.

We are so proud of the work that Laura is doing and happy that we could support her at the UnSchool! You can follow her work at www.laurafrancois.com or @laurafrancois_ on Instagram.