Seminar 1 Presentation, Project Communicating Biodiversity

1. Communicating Biodiversity
Storybook Design
Seminar 1
19th
July, 2013

2. Client, NBA
The National Biodiversity Authority of India (NBA) was formed
in 2003 to implement the
Biological Diversity Act of 2002. Since its formation, the NBA
has administered the conservation and sustainable use of
India’s diverse biological resources. It also aims to provide
access and benefit sharing to the indigenous communities
that have preserved valuable knowledge about the country’s
biodiversity.
Housed By LED Lab
Project Background

3. The need for effectively communicating Biological Diversity
to the urban Indian audience can be met by creative modes of
communication such as storybooks.
Project Hypothesis

4. Context Panorama : Communicating Biodiversity, consumption patterns in Urban India
What
Why
Who
Where
How residents in urban areas are
part of biodiversity.
Our choices as a consumer and
their effect on biodiversity.
Through stories collected from the
various actors that reflect the current
scenario.
A storybook :
- that informs
- gives room for user inputs
- creates a space for reflection
- catalyses action
Urban youth and
adults (18+).
Decision makers
in households.
Urban India
- In the markets
- within households,
neighbourhoods
- within communities
- where these networks trail to
Communicating
Biodiversity
A growing gap between
consumers and producers.
To address the need of
alternatives.
To establish one’s place in the
biodiversity web.
How
sources:shutterstock,usccanada.com

5. Timeline
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 4
Research - Primary
and Secondary
Data Collection
Analysis, categorization
Gaining Insights
July August September October
Writing and
storyboarding
Character design
Exploring visual
styles and form
of storybook
Illustrations
Design Development
Prototyping
User Testing
Client Feedback
Final Draft
Printing and
Production
Documentation
October8th
,Submission

6. the six
essential
Senses
Design
Story
Symphony
Empathy
Play
Meaning
- Understanding current structures
- Theories
- Representation
- Creative communication
- Exploring form and material
- Applying design thinking to
discover alternatives.
- Looking into the social / cultural /
historical relevance.
- What issues emerge as we
thread the facts ?
- How can we weave a
compelling narrative ?
- What insights can be drawn?
-What values are kept in mind?
- How can we code the content
with meaning, making it
multilayered ?
- Are there playful ways of
conveying the message?
- Can mundane surveys / focus
group activies become playful?
- Play with the form of the book.
- Are the perspectives of
various communiies included ?
- Instead of being accusatory, can
consumers and producers be
placed on the same plane?
- Can we look at biodiversity
through the lens of values?
- Can we strike a balance between
various arguments?
- How can all the insights and data
be synthesized using design tools.
Dimensions of understanding : Daniel H. Pink’s A whole New Mind

7. Actor’s Map : Relationship that the designer and user share
Designer User
Design
Story
Symphony
Empathy
Meaning
Play
Create the platform.
Use an interesting amalgam of
text and visuals to address the
subject
Add to the form through maps,
and sketches, personalize the book.
Use the book to understand innovation
and design to create alternatives.
Provide anecdotes and add to
the stories
Assimilate these stories with
experience and understand their
place in the biodiversity web.
Relate to other communities and
species in the ecosystem.
Understand the need for change
and contribute.
Explore the activities and feel
motivated.
Draw conclusions relevant to
one’s one lifestyle.
Possibly, identify problem areas
and seek alternatives.
Craft the narrative
Present the perspective of the
other communities
Make the user’s
engagement seamless
Create an interesting form
and activities for the user to en-
gage with.
Be aware of taking stands
and being inclusive.
Try to assume the position
of the reader.
Collate the data to create
insights.Present them in an
indirect manner that doesn’t
preach but gives room
for reflection.

8. Affinity Diagram : Based on Anil Agarwal’s, Politics of Environment
Is it possible to articulate an alternative view of biodiversity conservation
from the perspective of the aims and needs of the people?
(Escobar, Biodiversity)
- Waste Disposal
- Pressure on biological resouces
as raw material
- Feeding the West / feeding the rich
- Diversity is replaced by High Yielding
Monocultures
- Strategies for rural development but none
for several sustainable urban development
- Cultural Diversity is born out of the
world’s Biological Diversity
- Cannot wholly perceive highly destructive
consumption patterns.
- It is impossible for distant consumers to
appreciate the magnitude and impact of
their purchasing power.
- Are slowly eliminating all alternatives to
High Yielding Varities, making it easier to
come under their control.
- Forced to replace a wide range of crops
with High Yielding varities that require
expensive fertilizers and pesticides.
Lack vitality, need to be bought annually.
- Often lose land, resources and are pushed to
margins. Blamed for overgrazing.
- Denied access to biomass and free
bio resources.
- Undermined confidence in local / traditional
methods and knowledge
- Multitude of crops served as drought relief if
one crop fails. Monocultures lead to social
vulnerability in adverse conditions.
Urban agriculturalnational
Urban Needs
Alternatives to High Yielding monocultures.
Indicators (Social / Economic / Ecological)
Localization and information about
local produce.
Understand impact of consumption patterns

9. Insights and topics to explore : Based on Anil Agarwal’s, Politics of Environment
Diversity is transformed into monocultures,
in cities, same can be said for Urban lifestyles
as well as the crops in the farms.
Urban migrants are not economic refugees but
ecological refugees, displaced by building of dams,
mines, deforestation.
The biggest ally in demand for an ecologically /
socially sound environment is womankind.
We do not yet know how to construct an indicator,
(social / ecological / economic) to reflect the change..

10. Navdanya’s seed bank and bio-diversity conscious farming.
Grandmother’s University
http://www.navdanya.org/
Excluded Voices : Democratising the Governance of Food Systems
creating food sovreignity, letting urban citizens and farmers decide
what kind of agricultural research should be carried out.
Participatory Action Research through a citizen’s jury.
Focus on local gastronomy and food created an empathetic space
for participation, transcending age, gender, economic status.
http://www.excludedvoices.org/
Movements that inspire.