Trend Watch December 2019

Greta Thunberg Named Time Person of the Year 2019:

The 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl who inspired a global movement to fight climate change is the youngest person to be chosen by the magazine, in a tradition that began in 1927.

“Thunberg began a global movement by skipping school: starting in August 2018, she spent her days camped out in front of the Swedish Parliament, holding a sign painted in black letters on a white background that read Skolstrejk för klimatet: ‘School Strike for Climate’,” Charlotte Alter, Suyin Haynes and Justin Worland write for Time.

“In the 16 months since, she has addressed heads of state at the U.N., met with the Pope, sparred with the President of the United States and inspired 4 million people to join the global climate strike on September 20, 2019, in what was the largest climate demonstration in human history.”

Speaking from the UN climate summit in Madrid, Thunberg said she wanted to dedicate the award to all young activists.

“I was very surprised when I found out because it’s so … I could never have imagined anything like that happening. It’s so unexpected, so I am of course very grateful for that, very honoured,” she said.

“But as I have said before, I should not be the one to be person of the year, it should be everyone in the Fridays for Future movement because what we have done, we have done together.”

Read the Time feature.

Early Learning Spaces – Designing for Digital Natives:

The ‘alpha generation’ has never known a world without smartphones. How do we design early learning environments to nurture these digital natives on their own, new-age terms, asks Indesignlive.

“We know that the most successful learning environments for children are highly interactive to encourage physical as well as digital connection. Such spaces are invested with a degree of flexibility to better personalise the experience because current pedagogies acknowledge learning is different for each student,” writes Leanne Amodeo.

She examines a nursery and kindergarten in Milan designed by Rome-based studio Labics, following the Reggio Emilia approach – a student-centred educational philosophy.

The open-plan heart of the space features curved freestanding storage and divider systems that enable flexible configuration of the ground-level. The piazza-like space is designed to foster community and build children’s interpersonal skills.

A second case study, the Margaret Cribb Early Learning Centre (MCELC) at the University of Queensland designed by dwp, encourages discovery.

Again, internal spaces are arranged for flexibility – with the outdoor play space as a Reggio Emilia piazza building connections between children and also nature.

“The children’s connection to nature in this instance is pertinent for self-guided learning,” writes Amodeo.

“To a degree, [the children] have no boundaries and are free to explore, mixing with all age groups and experiencing a diversity of areas (with supervision), from the veggie patch and chicken house to amphitheatre.”