Components of spirituality to safeguard life for the development of an integral design management approach

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2021

Authors

Lopes, Luciana (Author) SASUP; Franqueira, Teresa (Author) Other; Alvelos, Heitor (Author) FBAUP; Parente, Cristina (Author) FLUP

Journal

Title: DISCERN: International Journal of design for social change, sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship

Vol. 2 No. 2 (Autumn issue)

Pages: 7-21

ISSN: 2184-6995

Publisher: Cyprus University of Technology. Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts

Indexing

DOAJ

Scientific classification

CORDIS: Social sciences

Other information

Abstract (EN): The present article is the initial result of fieldwork on design and spirituality in the scope of ongoing doctoral research in design. The research has been developed with Lusophone ‘quilombolas’, Afro- Brazilian and traditional family farming groups and communities from Brazil and Portugal, which present implicit spiritually driven design management approaches. The project proposes that a spiritual dimension should be a fundamental component of a design management strategy that is intended to be integral. The first learning case was carried out in ethnographic format with the Association of Women Farmers of Castelões (Associação das Mulheres Agricultoras de Castelões) in Portugal. The chosen methodology was the decomposition of the design and spirituality concept from the thoughts of Papanek (1971, 1995), Schumacher (1974), Walker (2011), Margolin (2014) and Escobar (2018). Components of spirituality were identified to guide field data collection. Subsequently, these components were identified from the participatory experience and participant observation with the artisans and analysed. In conclusion, it was possible to conceive ‘components’ of a reinvented spirituality for today, 'Spirituality to Safeguard Life'. These may support the development of a spiritually driven design management approach with a Lusophone reference, entitled 'Integral Design Management'. It is planned to apply this approach in academic, business, governmental, non-governmental and civil society environments. Through its practice, it is intended to promote the implementation of transformative systems with values and paradigm shifts for the recovery, flourishing and continuity of life.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific