Hydro Scotland, 2018
PROJECT BACKGROUND
‘Hydro Scotland’ is a socio-economic framework
that emphasises on innovation around Scotland’s water.
I performed in-depth research as part of a team.
The main challenge is to find a way in which we could value water
for different people but also do it in a manner that meant we could
distinguish real potential. The conversation has talked to UK Water Ltd
and Hydro Nation contingent of the Scottish Government.
RESEARCH QUESTION
How can Scotland utilise their water resource as their international profile?
RELATED LINKS
︎︎︎Video : https://youtu.be/9EM-tXx6aEs
KEYWORDS
# Design Research
# Service Design
# Scotland
# Academic Project
# The Glasgow School of Art
# M.Des Design Innovation& Service Design
# Scotland
# Academic Project
# The Glasgow School of Art
# M.Des Design Innovation& Service Design
Design Brief
‘Soft Power, Making in Scotland’
A country’s soft power can come from three resources: its culture, political values, and foreign policies.
It relies on the attractive qualities of a nation that others want to emulate or be considered alongside.
Soft power can be presented in many ways, such as art, travelling, food or fashion. These will virtually affect people.
In this project we are developing soft power in relation to our topic which is ‘making in Scotland’.
As a country Scotland has a long and proud heritage in manufacturing, however many of these traditional industries have declined.
Thinking about the future value of Scotland’s manufacturing industries, we wanted to find some traditional industries in Scotland that were not well-known.
We were urged to think outside the box and not collate a number of obvious solutions.
From looking at the traditional industries such as fish, textile, ship, tourism, beer and whisky,
we realised that the underlying factor that all of these had in common was ‘water’.
It relies on the attractive qualities of a nation that others want to emulate or be considered alongside.
Soft power can be presented in many ways, such as art, travelling, food or fashion. These will virtually affect people.
In this project we are developing soft power in relation to our topic which is ‘making in Scotland’.
As a country Scotland has a long and proud heritage in manufacturing, however many of these traditional industries have declined.
Thinking about the future value of Scotland’s manufacturing industries, we wanted to find some traditional industries in Scotland that were not well-known.
We were urged to think outside the box and not collate a number of obvious solutions.
From looking at the traditional industries such as fish, textile, ship, tourism, beer and whisky,
we realised that the underlying factor that all of these had in common was ‘water’.
Phase 1 - The Hydro Nation
It is clear that Scotland is covered and surrounded by masses of water. So Scotland has a very high potential of being able to achieve the status of Hydro Nation.
Looking at these points we saw the opportunity to utilise soft power and develop the goal of Scotland becoming a Hydro Nation. This can be done through a few different ways.
( 1 )
Firstly through creativity, looking for people who work with water in a creative way for example in the visual arts and poetry. Creative influences can be seen in enterprise, tourism and spiritual practice. All of these will bring different elements to the project. The political and educational aspects of developing the Hydro Nation are also important in the development of our project. By having a wide scope of categories for our research, we were able to formulate an understanding on the relevance of water to different people. This information would then act as the backbone for us to uncover areas for potential design innovation processes.
( 2 )
Visual materials were an attempt to understand the concepts and its importance to different categories that people can identify themselves within. It was hard to find away in which we could value water for different people but also do it in a manner that meant we could distinguish real potential. By putting water at the heart of the circle and then ordering our different categories in terms of value to water, we were able to create a system that has some sort of order to it. We heard back from representatives of UK Water Ltd and rural enterprise, these contacts helped us develop our ideas within the project.
Phase 2 - Speculative Scenario
Hydro-Scotland is a socio-economic framework that emphasises on innovation around Scotland’s water.
It encompasses four different stages, which are the A: Hydro-Trail, B: HS Presents, C: International Footprint and D: Hydro Centre.
A: Hydro trail showcases Scotland’s water-centric manufacturing industries, like whiskey and fisheries through trails, while
B: HS Presents celebrate the idea of Hydro Nation through different themes with accordance to the A: Hydro trails.
We saw C: International Footprint and D: Hydro Centre as future developments that will impact Scotland in a global scale
that initiates climate change through tourism, and boost cultural progression and its international connections.
We envisioned that the development of our business model will make Scotland as a Hydro Nation that utilise its expertise in water to maximise economic benefit develop water expertise and business support and thus, raise its international profile ultimately through the theme of water. This will bring a direct economic benefit to Scotland and also create ‘The Ripple Effect’, which means that water will hold significant meaning that propagate from industries to people who can identify themselves with water.
By putting water at the heart of the circle of future environmental schemes that consists of governmental and individuals, this will educate and encourage corporations and businesses to shift their perspective towards looking at water as a potential environmental ambassador to climate change. This is evident in the proposed collaboration among the manufacturing industries in our Hydro-trail and HS Presents that involves both individual and governmental participation that helps solidify the theme of water being a central yet necessary medium to spark conversations on climate change and the new innovative ways of using resources like water to brand creative businesses.
Hence, our model aimed to use natural resources as a creative branding concept that promotes climate change. In the context of Scotland, our model aimed to retain the authenticity of water to produce products that are objects of deep cultural heritage while at the same time, making sense of climate change to the participating stakeholders.
We have created a set of visions that will add cultural involvement with the development of Scotland becoming a Hydro Nation.
These specific visions would hopefully form a national identity for Scotland around water.
Alongside these visions we have come up with four :
A: Hydro Trail
/ It’s important that nationally the importance of Scotland’s water is highlighted.
/ The Hydro Trail is a way of travelling through Scotland with the main focus being water.
/ HT would be an: - Educational, Experience, Activity based trail
/ which would attain a high level of Environmental guidelines
/ be available to anyone who wants to be involved and can be altered to fit the needs
of the individuals participating.
/ The Hydro Trail has seven main topics :
- Creative
- Activity
- Historical
- Literature
- Environmental
- Food and drink
- Innovation
/ There is no specific route you have to take
/ You as an individual can curate your own trail jumping from different trail topics,
or staying on one specific trail.
/ It’s your personal way of exploring Scotland with the main focus of water.
/ Membership and a pin collection system, which being part of will show your
support for the Hydro Nation
B: Hydro Scotland Presents
/ In order to kickstart our Hydro Scotland notion we decided that there needed to be something
that could initially engage people with the Hydro Nation.
/ Hydro Scotland Presents is the idea of celebrating the Hydro Nation through the
different themes on the Hydro Trail.
/ This could be at a new event or could be hosted at existing events and festivals in Scotland
for example Edinburgh Art festival or the Scottish international storytelling festival.
/ These events could be the first time people engage with the idea of Scotland being
a Hydro Nation, so we would want them to be fun, engaging and educational,
focusing on the topic of water and Scotland being a Hydro Nation.
C: International Footprint
/ The international footprint is something we’d hope would happen with the success
of both the Hydro Trail and Hydro Scotland Presents.
/ It is a further development of the Hydro Trail but on a global scale.
/ Not only would this increase awareness of Scotland being Hydro Nation,
it would also create international connections
and further cultural progression of water, with Scotland being the leading example
for all of this.
/ We have found a few potential sites around the world which could be part of this
international footprint like:
/ be available to anyone who wants to be involved and can be altered to fit the needs
of the individuals participating.
/ The Hydro Trail has seven main topics :
- Creative
- Activity
- Historical
- Literature
- Environmental
- Food and drink
- Innovation
/ There is no specific route you have to take
/ You as an individual can curate your own trail jumping from different trail topics,
or staying on one specific trail.
/ It’s your personal way of exploring Scotland with the main focus of water.
/ Membership and a pin collection system, which being part of will show your
support for the Hydro Nation
B: Hydro Scotland Presents
/ In order to kickstart our Hydro Scotland notion we decided that there needed to be something
that could initially engage people with the Hydro Nation.
/ Hydro Scotland Presents is the idea of celebrating the Hydro Nation through the
different themes on the Hydro Trail.
/ This could be at a new event or could be hosted at existing events and festivals in Scotland
for example Edinburgh Art festival or the Scottish international storytelling festival.
/ These events could be the first time people engage with the idea of Scotland being
a Hydro Nation, so we would want them to be fun, engaging and educational,
focusing on the topic of water and Scotland being a Hydro Nation.
C: International Footprint
/ The international footprint is something we’d hope would happen with the success
of both the Hydro Trail and Hydro Scotland Presents.
/ It is a further development of the Hydro Trail but on a global scale.
/ Not only would this increase awareness of Scotland being Hydro Nation,
it would also create international connections
and further cultural progression of water, with Scotland being the leading example
for all of this.
/ We have found a few potential sites around the world which could be part of this
international footprint like:
- Water Aid projects
- Other water based charities
- Water heritage sites
- Other water based charities
- Water heritage sites
D: Hydro Centre
/ The Hydro Centre would act as a centre of excellence for the Hydro Nation,
showcasing the progress and success of the concept, as well as providing
a space for engagement and learning.
/ The main space at the centre would have an up to date display of
the progression of the Hydro Nation.
/ It would act as a place for talks, lectures, awards and gatherings to be held.
/ The people using the space could either choose to be directly or indirectly
interact with the information and facilities.
/ There would also be an experience space for more specific learning/activity
on the topic of water and the Hydro Nation.
/ This could be a workshop or studio that would be setup for various experiences
that would be catered towards whichever group was visiting it.
/ The aim is not purely to project information, but to create an environment
in which memorable experiences happen and that in turn solidify in the users mind.
Option 1 : Digital Presence
/ One way place we could start could be with creating a digital presence. this would:
- Start new conversations
- Spreading the word and create an identity around Hydro Scotland
- Creating an interest building the momentum
/ This would reach people both nationally and internationally,
and would be a great way to start the conversation about Hydro Nations
to those who are interested.
Example theme : Creative Trail
/ As there are quite a few options for the Hydro Trail we thought
we could initially focus on one theme
/ We thought the creative trail was a good place to start
/ There isn’t anything out there like it at the moment
/ There’s so many opportunities to connect creativity throughout Scotland
and we can do this through the topic of water and the Hydro Nation
/ The creative trail could include locations such as:
- Cove park on Helensburgh
- Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh
- Kelvingrove art gallery and museum
/ Curating your own journey with a mixture of Urban and Rural locations.
/ At these locations you would expect creative experiences like
workshops, exhibitions, talks, art and nature trails.
/ You could go from doing a workshop at Cover Park overlooking Loch Long
to a Hydro Nation themed talk
and experience at the Scottish National Gallery.
/ We would trial and test these routes, making sure they would cater
for everyone's needs and be beneficial in educating people
about the Hydro Nation.
Option 2 : Hydro Scotland pin collection
/ Linked to the trail creating a way for people to document their Hydro trails through Scotland
/ Scheme where you can collect a pin at each location to document your visit
/ Once you have visited six locations and collected the pins
/ You will have shown that your a committed supporter of the Hydro Trail and
Scotland being a Hydro Nation
/ There will be a reward in the form of a free experience on the Hydro Trail,
where you will also receive a gold pin to add to your collection.
/ One way place we could start could be with creating a digital presence. this would:
- Start new conversations
- Spreading the word and create an identity around Hydro Scotland
- Creating an interest building the momentum
/ This would reach people both nationally and internationally,
and would be a great way to start the conversation about Hydro Nations
to those who are interested.
Example theme : Creative Trail
/ As there are quite a few options for the Hydro Trail we thought
we could initially focus on one theme
/ We thought the creative trail was a good place to start
/ There isn’t anything out there like it at the moment
/ There’s so many opportunities to connect creativity throughout Scotland
and we can do this through the topic of water and the Hydro Nation
/ The creative trail could include locations such as:
- Cove park on Helensburgh
- Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh
- Kelvingrove art gallery and museum
/ Curating your own journey with a mixture of Urban and Rural locations.
/ At these locations you would expect creative experiences like
workshops, exhibitions, talks, art and nature trails.
/ You could go from doing a workshop at Cover Park overlooking Loch Long
to a Hydro Nation themed talk
and experience at the Scottish National Gallery.
/ We would trial and test these routes, making sure they would cater
for everyone's needs and be beneficial in educating people
about the Hydro Nation.
Option 2 : Hydro Scotland pin collection
/ Linked to the trail creating a way for people to document their Hydro trails through Scotland
/ Scheme where you can collect a pin at each location to document your visit
/ Once you have visited six locations and collected the pins
/ You will have shown that your a committed supporter of the Hydro Trail and
Scotland being a Hydro Nation
/ There will be a reward in the form of a free experience on the Hydro Trail,
where you will also receive a gold pin to add to your collection.
