In the face of climate change, political instability, ecological destruction, extinction of species and other global issues humanity is facing, various studies are showing that a radical societal transformation is needed to avoid an ecological collapse. This thesis explores the contemporary social-environmental phenomenon “nya gröna vågen” (new-back-to-the-landers) in Sweden as a response to an urgent need for societal transformation as well as a resistance to the conventional modern society. The aim of the study is to examine the material practices in which people within “nya gröna vågen” are involved, how their ideas relate to those practices, and what could be learned from the practitioners in terms of future pathways. To meet this aim, a variant of practice theory is used, which acknowledges non-human actors as well as ideas. Material practice is conceptualized as a network of associations of human and non-humans in specific time-spaces. The study uses semi-structured interviews with practitioners within “nya gröna vågen” and observations. The results show that practices within “nya gröna vågen” are connected to the physical surrounding where they are performed. The material practices of, for example, food provisioning, are understood as embodied understandings of the world made up by a network of human and non-human actors. Further, the material practices within “nya gröna vågen” are based on the idea of a co-creation of human and non-human actors shaping the world. The results also indicate how the actors’ material world-making practices responds to the current planetary situation. In response to what they perceive to be an ecological crisis, they have become involved in practices like regenerative agriculture, adapting to the evolving landscape and water projects. The results also present how the material practices bounded to a specific place as a platform for life are giving a sense of stability and belonging. A relational way of life where people are shaping new imaginations on how to navigate and make life in the future through practices in human/non-human networks.

A new paradigm is slowly making its way into society, affecting our material practice as designers. Materials selection in design and product development has for a long time been dominated by a purely technical approach, mainly focusing on properties and performance. With the increasing evidence of climate change, waste and pollution, environmental effects, we are slowly realizing that unsustainable consumption of materials is no longer an alternative. Previous studies of material practices, both within design educations and the design profession, has primarily dealt with the development of material related methods. This thesis has focused on gaining an in-depth understanding of material practices within design processes, in order to develop a pedagogical framework that facilitates the development of reflective material practices in design education. There are four primary aims of the research presented in this licentiate thesis: (1) ascertain obstacles in the traditional ways of teaching materials to design students, (2) to bridge the differences in language, research culture and pedagogic approaches in design education, (3) to investigate current professional material practices in industrial design, and (4) to develop a new material framework for teaching reflective material practices for design students. During the project, the material framework has been tested and evaluated in two mandatory material courses with first and second year bachelor students from Product Design education over a period of four academic years. A comparative case study was conducted with five design consultancies. The qualitative interviews were transcribed and analysed using category zooming. The outcomes of this research are: (1) a new pedagogic framework for teaching materials to Product Design students in higher education, and (2) insights into professional practices of selecting and designing with materials. The pedagogic model A Material Framework for Product Design is designed to facilitate the development of reflective material practices in design education. The Framework consist of four levels: (1) a pedagogical foundation based on Experiential Learning theory that provide a framework for how to approach teaching and learning, (2) designing and structuring learning activities, (3) creating learning environments that facilitate learning activities, and (4) defining learning objectives, assessment of learning outcomes and detecting signs of learning. The main insights from the study of professional practices suggest: (1) that risk management has a major influence on the material selection process, (2) that negotiations of project boundaries in the ‘fuzzy’ pre-design phase has crucial influence on the risk management aspect of the material criteria activities, and (3) a lack of awareness, that design briefs usually outline material criteria expressed as sensorial characteristics, which are later translated by engineering into final material criteria used for the material selection process. The findings implies that design students would benefit from developing reflective material practices in design education.