Abid Abbas
Programme:
Design - MPhil/PhD
Start date:
September 2024
Mode of study:
Full time
Research title:
Cultivating Connection: A Design Approach for Fostering Emotional Bonds between Early Adults and Plants
Biography
Trees tread a fine line between feeling inanimate and alive. They, generally, don't move, are rooted to the ground, and grow gradually. Often mistaken as object-like, Abid's research aims to ensoul them by creating a sense of belonging via Relational Design.
Abid has a Master of Design from the University of Dundee.
In addition to academic pursuits, Abid is a long standing core committee member and the pro bono creative director of the Human Touch Foundation since 2019. This Indian non-profit addresses key societal issues including equality of opportunity, sexual harassment and environmental conservation.
Abid is also a member of the Communications sub group of SHARP: Scottish Heart and Arterial disease Risk Prevention, a Scottish charity that aims to reduce cardiovascular disease through healthcare research and educational initiatives. He has been in this position since 2022.
Research interests
- Relational Design
- Product Attachment
Due to their object-like nature, plants may feel inanimate to some. Research shows that children often mistake them for being non-living. Afterward, owing to Plant Awareness Disparity pervasive in urban societies, plants come to be perceived as unimportant background entities. Consequently, interactions diminish, and these societies enter the cycle of anti-plant bias. This research, therefore, seeks to heighten urban society’s environmental consciousness by transforming plants from seemingly inanimate entities to emotionally significant beings.
In an earlier Research-through-Design study, potted plants – which are portable, owned and somewhat artificial – were ensouled in the eyes of Early Adults (18-30-year-olds) via the Product Attachment strategy most effective in achieving a long-term emotional investment in an object: the attachment of memories. Trees, on the other hand, are less like products. They have a more spatial nature and may have a shared community ownership. This study, therefore, intends to ensoul them by creating a sense of belonging via Relational Design.