Conversation 6.2: Care and Response-Ability in More-than-Human Worlds

Discussion of Full Papers 1179 and 1208 from Full Paper Session 6 and Exploratory Papers (listed below). In this 19th edition of the PDC, Full and Exploratory papers will be organized into Conversations, that is, experimental formats of presentation and discussion of the papers based on triggering questions and authors’ interactions. 

Full Papers:

• 1179: Where Wombats Dominate and Humans Accommodate: Recasting Design as Situated Response-ability in More-than-Human Worlds.
  Authors: Foth, Marcus; Rezayan, Leo; Fourie, Kiara.
  
• 1208: From Control to Co-Evolution: Rethinking Participation in Bio-Inclusive Design.
  Authors: Zeccara, Francesca; Romanazzi, Elio; Bolzan, Patrizia.

Exploratory Papers:

• 1327: With Elephants in the Room: More-Than-Human Participatory Design for Human-Elephant Co-existence.
  Authors: Nazurdeen, Naleefa; Nawarathne, Dilina; Storni, Cristiano.
  
• 1412: More-than-Human Infrastructuring in the River Shannon: Water Quality, Level and Management as Voices Towards Respectful Coexistence with Nature.
  Authors: Usanga, Chidi; Storni, Cristiano.
• 1485: Are You Blocking Nonhuman Leadership? Five Questions to Find Out.
  Authors: Roudavski, Stanislav; Holland, Alexander.
  

The discussion will be guided by the following questions prepared by the Chairs: 

• Q1. How does your research reframe care and response-ability as reciprocal, multispecies practices without reproducing paternalistic or human-centered forms of control and representation?​
• Q2. What is one key responsibility that designers must consider while engaging with more-than-human worlds?​
• Q3. What methodological and ethical approaches are needed to engage with nonhuman agencies and “voices” in ways that acknowledge ambiguity, situatedness, and the limits of representation while fostering stewardship, symbiosis, and infrastructural attentiveness?