First Nations And Modern Design
Applying First Nations Perspectives to Modern Design
An exam question will probably not ask you to explain a traditional system. Instead,you are more likely t be asked how a First Nations perspective might influence the development of a modern engineered system.
Think about:
- Country and place
- How does the proposed system interact with the particular environment in which it will operate?
- Local knowledge
- Could people with long-term knowledge of the area provide information that would improve the design?
- Sustainability
- What happens to resources, ecosystems and communities over the full lifecycle of the system?
- Interconnection
- If one part of the environment is changed, what other parts may be affected?
- Community
- Who is affected by the system, and have those people been included in its development?
- Culture
- Could the system affect culturally significant places, practices or knowledge?
Cultural Knowledge and Ethical Design
First Nations knowledge should not simply be treated as another resource for an engineer to take and use.
Designers should consider: - who holds the knowledge - whether consultation is required - whether knowledge is culturally sensitive - whether the community has been meaningfully involved - who benefits from the use of the knowledge.
This connects First Nations perspectives directly with ethical design.
Simply asking a community about a design does not automatically make the design ethical.
Engineers should consider whether First Nations people have been meaningfully involved in decisions that affect their Country, communities, culture or knowledge.