Educating radical practitioners: A case study of regenerative design on a UK High Street

Abstract

This paper analyses a live project collaboration between the Birmingham School of Architecture & Design and CoLab Dudley, a social innovation lab based on Dudley High Street. The project developed students’ sustainability competencies while contributing to social, environmental, and economic progression and regeneration of local communities, and explored regenerative futures for Dudley High Street 2030 through engaging students, academics, collaborators, and a wider network of local people in a two-way collaborative learning process. Using Tilbury and Mulà’s five principles of Education for Sustainable Development as a model, the collaboration was analysed to tease out how the work might impact the education of future practitioners. The research identifies a positive impact of real-life collaboration for students, academics, and collaborators in nurturing the conditions for radicality and reveals the conditions necessary for successful partnerships to develop. In going beyond technological solutions, the research reveals the potential of engaging students with real-world communities, participation, and future thinking to create radical practitioners ready to rise to the sustainability challenge