School of DIALOGIE: Towards an Ecological Dialogue
Carolina Mancero Castillo & Belcim Yavuz
School of DIALOGIE transforms Maldonado’s book into a conversation and transfers the book’s material as material for a conversation. Quotations are accompanied by hashtags that link the card to the index of the book. These links allow the players to access the book differently.
School of DIALOGIE is also an invitation to engage in conversations and learn about each other. If you are together with stakeholders with which you will become collaborators of a future ecological design project, join the school of DIALOGIE, engage in a conversation, and get to know your team members.
The card kit is inspired by Maldonado’s interest in CS Peirce’s concept of a “university of methods.” Despite so much interest in the environmental question, it is apparent that communication between different stakeholders is dysfunctional due to extreme polarization and the inability to make something common within a discussion related to ecological issues. The card kit takes this observation as a departure point. The process of “making something common” is fundamental to ecological education and can be achieved through radical attention to ‘dialogue.’ Radical attention to dialogue requires addressing certain misconceptions related to ‘dialogue.’ The ability to engage in dialogue is not a given but requires preparation. “Día” does not refer to “two” but “through,” meaning flowing through stakeholders to generate new understandings. A dialogue is different from a discussion. A discussion is a game where people can battle out ideas to win and get points for one person. In a dialogue, no one tries to win. It is about developing a shared understanding.
![](https://www.uni-weimar.de/projekte/criticalecologymatters/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Package-image-scaled-uai-258x193.jpg)
ABOUT
School of Dialogie is a card game inspired by the idea of ‘University of Methods’ by Tomas Maldonado. We suggest this game as a method to have a deeper understanding of the concept of Critical Ecology through the perspective of the book ‘Design, Nature And Revolution, Toward a Critical Ecology’ 1972 by Tomas Maldonado. The players are invited to question the theme, the given con- tent, the views of other players…and as an outcome to gain a broader perspective of the concept of ecology in design.
GOAL
The aim of the game is to start a conversation and discussion among Designers / Architecture students / Anyone who is interested, by providing a quick informative card set. Each card states a question on one side and a small informative paragraph that helps to grasp a deeper perspective, on the other side.
HOW TO PLAY
HOW MANY PEOPLE?
The game is planned ideally as a group game, It can be played by at least 2 persons.
START
Start the game by spinning the roulette! The roulette helps define the theme.
After the theme is defined, we go to the set of cards under that color code.
The set includes 4 cards and sometimes bonus cards.
Players should pick one card out of 4 and start every card from the white side, where there is a question. Then flip it over to see the context, after reflecting on the question for a while.
NEXT STEP
We read one of the 4 cards, and pose the question to the group. There is also the paragraph that gives the context of the question. The paragraph is based on the book, sometimes written in our own words, sometimes as quotes.
The discussion starts within the group which is basically the aim of the game.
To limit the time we have a sand glass that runs for 2 min for each person, then they need to finish their talk and switch to the player. In each session, the aim is to include everyone in the conversation.
When that card (the session) is over, Turn the wheel again!
THEMES
The themes are chosen from Tomás Maldonado’s book ‘Design, Nature And Revolution, Toward a Critical Ecology’ 1972.
HASHTAGS #
The Hashtags on the bottom of the cards are referring to the index of the book and revealing the connection between the themes. The players are welcome to check the index of the book to find the pages which contain more information about the certain card.
HOW LONG
Till the package is over.
BONUS – Participant contribution
The bonus cards are left empty. Feel free to state your own question! or express your own answer by drawing/ reflecting on the game.