Design Team
5 Designers
Partners
Nord Projects, Near, Google AI
Timeline
January 13 - January 24
Location
Forres
The climate crisis is now the greatest challenge we've ever faced as a species. Change takes 30 years: by 2050 we will know whether humanity has succeeded in mitigating the risks of climate catastrophe – or failed to act in time. So we spent 2 weeks exploring new approaches to designing for humanity and the natural world of our near future.
We inspected the project’s practice base, a beautiful and remote location of the Altyre Estate near Forres. My team and I were responsible for the future design of one of the sites.
Fishing Bothy and Riverside
INSPIRATION
Conjecture in 2050：
People with severe mental health issues that are seemingly incurable through therapy or drug treatments.
People with incurable physical or mental diseases where quality of life is severely impacted by the social and economic issues brought forth through Greentocracy. and would like to end their life with dignity.
Local fish species that have been depleted through excessive fishing by humans.
Suicide has been steadily increasing due to Greentocracy. This is a dignified service that allows people the right to decide how and when they would like to die.
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
How might we design a service that allows those afflicted with severe diseases to have a dignified death？
However, there are a lot of challenges like the stigma around death and mortality. Today, the ability to decide when you want to die is severely restricted. So how might we reach a customer base and allow people this opportunity without forcing it upon them.
THE CONCEPT
We design a service that allows those afflicted with severe diseases to have a dignified death.
User Journey
Step 1. Being Diagnosed
Medical advances have resulted in Machine Learning being used extensively in illness detection. These tests can be done safely and securely through your personal webcam, with real time feedback on brain scans and voice recognition.
Step 2. Receiving the brochure
If your medical evaluation reveals that you have an untreatable mental illness, you will receive a brochure for the Sunclipse Program. You then have the option whether or not you want to participate.
Step 3. Briefing session and travel
Before traveling to the site, a briefing session will be provided which will give you more information on the ceremony. Your friends and family will also be involved as this is an emotionally jarring procedure and they must be psychologically ready.
Step 4. Welcome by the guide
Once arriving at the site of Findhorn River, you will be greeted by a guide - this can take the form of a religious leader if desired. Activities vary from person to person but can include letter writing, moments of silence with loved ones and nature walks.
Step 5. Wall of remembrance
Entering the old fishing bothy, you will see the wall of remembrance. Many years ago, the wall was used to hang photos of men and the fish they had caught - a truly barbaric act. Now, rocks float through the space, each one made from the heart of those who have come before.
Step 6. Fish release
After years of overfishing, the river is slowly starting to restock. To help with this process, there is a local fish breeding program within the bothy. AR technology allows you to identify a fish ready for release and choose it as a symbolic act of reincarnation
This is a program initiated by the government in order to address the growing issue of mental illnesses and suicide. The people who wants to die could gain a meaningful lasting value. The balance between humans and biodiversity is slowly restored. Those most severely afflicted now have access to dignity.
Wider systems implications
Making hard to talk about subjects, such as death and mental illness, more part of the conversation.
By directly engaging with hard to talk about subjects, such as death and mental illness, the space for conversation is created. They are destigmatized.
Humans gain deeper empathy for nature as there is a one to one exchange of life and death. The life of a fish is just as important as that of a human.
Although the program was started by the Scottish government, the benefits of it soon became clear across the wider world and similar programs were started. Spending on mental health treatment increased
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