Eco-Amnesia: in search of forgotten perspectives
Nojoke Studio is a social design practice that engages with participatory research, environmental awareness, education, and critical game design. Through playful and visual methods (such as games, co-creation workshops, and illustrations) complex societal, political and ecological topics are explored in ways that are accessible and tangible. Outcomes often materialize as visual publications or interactive installations that document and extend the research process.
Nojoke Studio has been founded by me (Mariska Lamiaud) in 2018, after graduating from Design Academy Eindhoven. After moving from France to the Netherlands for my studies, I decided to establish my practice there. I work mainly on projects for local and national non-profits and governmental organizations, on themes ranging from the history of the Turkish worker migration in Eindhoven to collaborating on social design workshops for children from less favored neighborhoods in Utrecht.
Design, for me, is a tool for activism and dialogue: a way to confront issues like climate change, democracy, or shifting landscapes, and invite public engagement. Rather than focusing on end products, I see outcomes as prompts for reflection and agency: turning frustration into creative momentum and encouraging people to take part in shaping their own realities.
Eco-Amnesia: op zoek naar verloren perspectieven (NL) / in search of forgotten perspectives (EN)” is a self-initated research project, currently in a pilot stage. Through this participatory design research, I want to shed light on the Shifting Baseline Syndrome (a term coined by Daniel Pauly in 1995) and research if and how stories and memories of seniors (70+) can contribute to a better understanding of biodiversity loss.
The Shifting Baseline Syndrome (SBS) can be described as a gradual change in our accepted norms and expectations for the environment, over generations. Because biodiversity has declined significantly over the past 50 years, the state of nature is not the same as the generation before us, and the one before that. Each generation therefore accepts increasingly worse situations as it doesn't know or remember any better. This can lead to “an increased tolerance for progressive environmental degradation, changes in people’s expectations as to what is a desirable state of the natural environment, and the establishment and use of inappropriate baselines for nature conservation, restoration, and management.” (- Soga & Gaston, 2018). Not really the attitude we need right now, especially not on a policy level.
Reading about SBS made me curious about the state of nature 100 years ago, and this got me thinking: if, in about 30 years of existence, I already see a significant difference between memories from my childhood and now, seniors will notice an even greater difference. What role do I, as a designer, play in reducing SBS, and in which ways can seniors contribute?
In the coming years, I see Eco-Amnesia as an umbrella concept to explore how I can bring SBS to the attention of the public in an accessible way, using social design and participatory methodologies such as co-creation sessions. The main goal is to contribute to bridging the gap in our collective ecological memory by fostering intergenerational knowledge exchange.