What is it about?
Design engagement with sustainability and sustainable development is frequent but do we understand the principles of sustainable development and social innovation or are we simply missing Papanek's admonition to think more deeply.
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Why is it important?
Recent books and articles on sustainable design show varied and sometimes superficial engagement with sustainable development and social innovation, especially with respect to the developing world
Perspectives
This chapter contributes to the overall book focused on the Great Transformation thesis of Polyani and addresses the theories and principles required to push back on naive approaches to sustainable development
Associate Professor Gavin B Melles
Technische Universitat Dresden
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Designing for Sustainable Development: Industrial Ecology, Sustainable Development, and Social Innovation, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/9783035606539-013.
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Resources
Socially Responsible Design
As the focus of product design has shifted from exclusively commercial to sustainability and social concerns, design education in this area has endeavoured to keep pace. Victor Papanek's book Design for the real world, crystallised many of the systemic social, economic and environmental concerns into an argument for change through eco-design, inclusive design and, in business and corporate contexts, a triple bottom line of social, environmental and economic factors. Simultaneously, design has developed and evolved participatory and co-design approaches, with high-profile consultancies such as IDEO proving that early involvement of designers with ‘wicked’ social and environmental problems is possible. This position paper revisits Papanek's agenda for industrial design, and examines the link with participatory approaches, and existing socially responsible design agendas and examples. Identifying eight critical features of socially sustainable product design, this paper suggests that Papanek's original agenda for socially responsible and sustainable design has been partly fulfilled and must be developed further through the changed role of the designer as facilitator of flexible design solutions that meet local needs and resources.
A human-centered framework for innovation in conservation incentive programs
The promise of environmental conservation incentive programs that provide direct payments in exchange for conservation outcomes is that they enhance the value of engaging in stewardship behaviors. An insidious but important concern is that a narrow focus on optimizing payment levels can ultimately suppress program participation and subvert participants’ internal motivation to engage in long-term conservation behaviors. Increasing participation and engendering stewardship can be achieved by recognizing that participation is not simply a function of the payment; it is a function of the overall structure and administration of the program. Key to creating innovative and more sustainable programs is fitting them within the existing needs and values of target participants. By focusing on empathy for participants, co-designing program approaches, and learning from the rapid prototyping of program concepts, a human-centered approach to conservation incentive program design enhances the propensity for discovery of novel and innovative solutions to pressing conservation issues.
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