UN Field Trip Reflection

My experience at the United Nations was educational overall. There was one speaker who spoke about her book and the stories she creates and illustrations around climate change. I found her books and story very interesting. We also heard a speaker from Denmark who proposed a bike-only city which is already in place in Denmark one day of the week. The idea that a city would use bikes only or walk would make the city much more sustainable and help both the economy and the planet. As designers, we don’t only design actual objects but also systems. The idea of designing a system for a city to use is something I find fascinating. As a society we need to adapt to the repercussions of what we have been doing to our planet for thousands of years and start adapting to what would be most convenient and environmentally friendly for our sake and those who come after us. Another speaker who I found very interesting was the one who spoke about how environmentally unfriendly the fashion industry is. He spoke about the market and how stores like H&M are a big brand that uses a lot of energy and resources that go to waste. The solution would go both ways for designers and consumers to be more self aware of the issue of sustainability and learn about the way we shop and the amount of energy put into what we purchase. Overall, the experience at the UN was very interesting just being there felt important. I had never been inside the United Nations before and sitting in that space made me listen to the speakers more and take the talk more seriously. It felt like it was a serious issues that needs addressing, which it is. I like that they opened the floor for questions and wanted to hear what we had to say as well.

 

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