Klára Peloušková

Klára Peloušková studied Art History and Theory as well as Media Theory at Masaryk University in Brno and UMPRUM in Prague. She focuses on contemporary design theory and methodology in the context of the politics of sustainability and civilizational transformation. She works as a Methodologist in the Department of Design and a Lecturer in the Department of Art History and Theory at UMPRUM, where she also leads the transdisciplinary educational module Planet B. In 2021, she participated in The Terraforming design-research program at Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design. She has participated in the educational and research projects Transition Design: A New Challenge for Service and Interaction Design Education (Masaryk University and University of Oslo) or More-than-Planet (Waag Futurelab). She also works as a consultant and facilitator of design processes and contributes to academic and non-academic publications. In the past, she worked as Editor-in-Chief of the Czech art magazine Artalk.cz.

Adaptation as Strategy. Designing Interplays for Systemic Change 

The thesis considers the theories and methodologies of strategic design as a concept developed to tackle complex (wicked) problems. In particular, it focuses on the potential of such methodologies to deal with concerns related to anthropogenic climate change and other pressing environmental issues. It looks at existing practices and aspirational design approaches through the lens of adaptation and adaptability as both a key systems’ property and a design principle. It challenges established discourses of sustainability and reflects on adaptation as a survival strategy of neoliberal capitalism as well as a conceptually varied protocol of climate change response. The primary ambition of the thesis is to align strategic design methodologies with the current discourses in materialist philosophy and political ecology and to weigh whether (and when) adaptation may serve as an indicative basis for strategic design practice.