I host the Doom & Bloom podcast from Climate Designers. Below is my recap of the latest episode.
In this episode of Doom and Bloom, I sit down with Eric Benson, colleague and collaborator with Climify, another Climate Designers podcast. We had fun asking some big questions: Why is climate being erased from federal budgets? Why is climate literacy still an elective in design schools and not a required course? And why are we preparing students for AI but not for the climate crisis?
What strikes me about our conversation is that uncertainty isn't the enemy of action, it's the catalyst.
While we wait for perfect solutions, buildings sit empty, students graduate without climate literacy, and designers keep designing as if the planet isn't burning.
The ideas we explored aren't just about creating better conferences or popup learning spaces.
They're about fundamentally rewiring how we prepare the next generation of creators.
Every design decision is a climate decision, whether we know it or not.
The youth climate movement has shown us that 10,000 passionate people can shift entire industries. But, passion without strategic thinking gets us protests, not progress.
We need designers who can think systemically, act quickly, and build the infrastructure for change not just respond to it.
The window for incremental change is closing.
Designers entering the field today will spend their careers dealing with climate chaos we can barely imagine.
Should we, can we, integrate climate thinking into design education and practice fast enough to matter?
Subscribe to Generator
Receive the latest posts in your inbox
