Roisin Markham

At the moment I am away in the wonderful Kingdom of Kerry, in the south west of Ireland. A three day Active Hope Retreat, the beginning of an ending. A closure for a group of us from across the shared Island that came together to be in community and engage in Joanna Macy’s, The Work That Reconnects (WTR) for a year. This is the astonishing view That is giving me stór.

This weeks post will be shorter.

I write these Studio Notes, I do not use AI and will not be using AI, it would miss the point. If this is your first time visiting here welcome, do go back and read some of the earlier Studio Notes.

Thanks for reading let’s jump in.

This week is number 17 of 52 , with 35 weeks remaining in 2025. This year brings the end of the first quarter of the 21st century.

That kind of analysis says a lot about the week I’ve had and nothing to the retreat I’m on.

Reflection

This week I got to do a full on chunk of design research. Really focused on this one thing. A group of people coming together from four different organisations and a community, partnering on a co- design project with my business, BDT Consultancy. Co-design is when you are designing with people not at them. When the group of people that will use the thing being designed are actually included in the process of co-design and co-production. Design research in certain industries can often be literature review based or somehow a surface level event engagement or a survey. Some of my previous strategic design work in big tech I had to fight pretty hard to get people using the thing in the room. There was an attitude or perception around lived experience and a hierarchy of knowledge.

Big thanks to the Femnist Communities for Climate Justice , the National Women’s Council and Community Work Ireland for hosting the film on Earth Day.

I really enjoyed it and found it surprisingly emotional, Mary Robinson’s story of her work is the backdrop to my Ireland too. It’s a difficult watch in places of extreme injustices but she holds herself and humanity to account. A woman who means a lot to me, Irelands first female and young President. She really changed things, her election and her work paved ways for further cultural changes and a different social contract within the Nation.

I also wanted to reflect on the question I posted on LinkedIn, some of the answers were amazing. I’m asking you a shade of it here let me know and I’ll reflect on them in totality next week.

I notice an increase in people putting their name into the contact form on my website but with no message… if you don’t send me a message I’ll suspect you are a bot. So if you have or are going to contact me please do tell me why?

I wondered did those sign ups think they were subscribing?

Insight

In my experience you get so much more from co-design.

Just because someone says something in an interesting way does not make it an insight. It might form an insight but it’s not an automatic.

I’ve really enjoyed establishing a baseline of knowledge on which to build. As we work through the project and co-design the programme of work we aim to track and demonstrate direct and indirect learning.

Skill maturity modelling, frameworks for learning, capacity building are interesting to build. Robust pathways for emergent future horizons.

A question for you

Do you trust easily in in groups?

Resources

A book – Digital Degrowth

Michael Kwet, a leading expert on digital colonialism, presents a new paradigm for the digital society. Merging the science of degrowth with a global analysis of the high-tech economy, he argues that digital capitalism and colonialism must be abolished quickly. In Digital Degrowth, Kwet maps out a path to a people’s tech future. He calls for direct action against Silicon Valley, US imperialism and power elites everywhere in order to realize a radically egalitarian digital society that fosters equality in harmony with nature.

A view to the week ahead

I finish my retreat on Monday and travel home from Kerry.

Tuesday back into

• a presentation for Courtown Towns First on Courtown Community Circular Economy Report
• finishing the Co-Design training modules for delivery kick off Wednesday
• following up on invitations to speak
• book travel to the UK
• there is also a tender response lurking on the horizon that needs to be co-produced
• finding work, this co-design project will be complete early June

I’m in Kerry for 2 more days, a place I love.

Go well.