More-Than-Human-Centered-Design and Self-Narration as Catalysts for fostering Sustainable Learning Ecosystems

This paper presents an exploratory study on approaches to the designer’s self-narration from a more-than-human-centered perspective. It aims to offer new perspectives on professional identity construction and sustainable design practices within design education, while encouraging reflection on the contemporary role of designers. In response to the complex transformations of the 21st century, the paper argues that the widely established human-centered approach fosters an anthropocentric perspective which constrains designers’ self-identification and hinders diversity and inclusiveness in design practices. Emphasizing the need for competencies that encourage symbiotic relationships with non-humans, the study introduces self-narratives as a tool for sustainable design learning ecosystems. A prototype activity, rooted in instructional design, is proposed to facilitate professional identity construction and relational perception development. Through exercises of self-narration in relation to non-human elements, the activity offers participants reflection opportunities that facilitate professional identity formation while raising awareness of interconnectedness and shared agency between humans and non-humans.