current issues in design for sustainability

This article discusses the unsustainability of designers “trying to solve the wrong problems”. This typically happens when design methodology (what they term "design thinking") is not used in the early phases of projects aimed at developing new or improving existing products, services and systems. To avoid misdirected practice that are unsustainable, iterative and reflective processes that take into consideration the resources available are encouraged. The preconditions for design methodology (including design thinking, leadership, time, space, and process) concludes with a call for more rigorous design research on design failure rates and metrics—so that it can be proven more widely just how critical this methodology is. Being strategic about identifying the problem and finding coherent, sustainable and resilient solutions is particularly relevant to complex environments with multiple stakeholders.



A real-world example of how Zero Waste Policy can push novel new business models. Designers can not only create designs for new products but can use their capacity to generate desirable products and services into implementing new models of consumption.