Parsons Paris

July 16, 2020

A Look Back at an Exceptional (First) Year – Part 3 Working Towards Better Futures

In the current movement towards heightened awareness around environmental and social progress, the search for new ways to conceive and create are even more pressing than ever, and First Year Parsons Paris students have embraced this task with consciousness, creativity, positivity and a hint of humor too!

In Sustainable Systems, students approached a sensitive, yet crucial topic: climate change and how to raise awareness without frightening people about it (which has been proven to be counterproductive). Indeed, climate is the delicate balance of Earth’s systems that determines whether or not humans can live on this planet. Science shows that ongoing human activity is currently impacting these systems so as to threaten our own existence. This revelation has led some to declare a new epoch in Earth’s geologic history – the Anthropocene.

Designers play a vital role in determining how actions taken today can have an impact on generations to come. The challenge of climate change is a complex mix of political, social, economic, cultural, geographical, and ecological factors, with consequences at local and global scales, in the immediate, mid-term and long-term time ranges.

Air pollution is felt immediately and can have adverse health effects even though many particles do not remain in the atmosphere for very long. Carbon dioxide, however, is harmless in the short-term but remains for hundreds of years, effectively tipping the natural balance that makes up our climate.

Mitigation and adaptation are two key strategies for reducing the future damage of, and simultaneously helping society adjust to the realities of climate change and air pollution. 

Working on visual awareness campaigns, students created a series of associated campaigns to raise awareness and/or promote sustainable alternatives to polluting activities.