October 2008

Following on from the Mark Lee presentation i posted earlier, this article (titled provocatively Save us From our Timid Selves) from Peter Lewis at newmatilda.com stuck a chord for me. It’s about the need to reframe the climate conversation around positive opportunities rather than the negative reactionary approach so favoured over the years by those attempting to resist the tide of (neo-liberal/rampant consumerism/unsustainable/add your negative trend here) change.

Attempting to say ‘No”‘ to climate change is of course absurd but even saying no to cars for instance misses the point. What we need is positive alternatives and hence we should focus on developing and promoting those. Mobility services for instance, like our company bike fleet and the Go Get car share service we offer staff, actually deliver a better alternative than owning a car with it’s various costs for inner city eskimos. The result; none of our staff drive to work regularly.

Great examples of what can be achieved when you look for the practical and positive rather than the fundamentalist and negative can be found in Ezio Manzini’s Sustainability Everyday project. Manzini posits that the great shift we need (the revolution) like the seismic demographic shifts that have gone before it (the agrarian and industrial revolutions) will only occur when a critical mass of people see a better future for themselves by behaving radically different.

Climate change? Just say ‘yes’ (to positive alternatives) and we might just start changing people’s behaviour.

Peters Article can be read here

On Tuesday night I spoke on behalf of the Eskimos at the Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) Sustainable Design Event in Adelaide. The passionate and optimistic crew of S.A have initiated a program that they call “studio and practice”, aimed at inspiring and showcasing sustainability initiatives from Australia’s Design Community.

It is always nice to discuss the possibilities that designers can bring to societies, it excites and encourages me to continue to use my problem solving skills to output solutions that have a positive effect on the world.

Digital Eskimo has joined the The Designers Accord, a pledge to raise social and environmental impact with every client and to collaborate with one another. It is an agreement to reroute design, manufacturing and even the economy towards a livable ecological future.

100,000 designers have already signed up, it’s time for all designers to step up and take responsibility for the social impact that our work has.

Thank-you to Matthew Wright-Simon, Director at Ecocreative for asking me along and the participants for allowing themselves to become engaged and welcoming the opportunities that we as designers have before us.

Photograph by Luke Simon

Mark Lee, CEO of SustainAbility UK, spoke at the Sustainable Brands 08 conference on the history (and future) of changes in society around sustainability suggesting we can see them as four waves (a metaphor as an Aussie living near the beach I can relate too!).

The citizen/regulation driven first wave triggered by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in the 60s-70s, followed by the consumer led green movement of the 80s early 90s which ended in a sea of green wash. The third wave was more focussed on social issues such as equity and governance through the anti-globalisation movement.

Mark posits we are now in the fourth wave which is more complex characterised by multiple issues and systems (with a climate change focus at the moment which he argues we shouldn’t overly emphasise).

It’s a fascinating future looking speech so watch it to understand the fifth wave which he identifies as demographics and food related in the shorter term. He also touches on the localisation vector which is something Digital Eskimo is working on at the moment, more on that soon!

Watch Mark’s Presentation here.

Last week I attended Sustainable Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid conference in Helsinki on the ways in which innovation and business can help the billions of people who are living in poverty. The model is known as the the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) approach which relies on entrepreneurial activity to create value and ultimately well-being through product and service (co)creation and provision instead of the old development aid or charity models.

The stand out speaker for me was Simona Rocchi, Director of Sustainable Design at Philips who described the ethos and methods behind the design of the Chulha smokeless stove, co-created in India with local communities and NGOs. It was inspiring to see design (and in particular a similar approach to design that we practice at Digital Eskimo) given centre stage of a conference on sustainable solutions (design rarely rates a mention in my experience).

The award winning stove exemplifies the potential of co-designing in context with all stakeholders and also represents an innovative model of IP ownership (Philips is sharing it with the community) as well as the many benefits that can flow to corporations that participate in society in this way.

View Simona’s presentation.

When I talk of design i’m usually referring to more than just graphic design … more

Read the rest of this entry »