Our trip to Design for Planet festival
Recently we returned from Manchester and the 4th annual Design for Planet Festival. The event brought together designers, businesses and policymakers under the central theme of Planet Positive Business, with the aim of challenging how we think, create, and consume. Design for Planet stands as a key milestone on the path towards the World Design Congress in London 2025.
Key features of Design for Planet included an opening address from the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham on Greater Manchester’s vision to prioritise green innovation and connect people through sustainable infrastructure. This was followed by a series of keynotes and discussions on issues from across the design sector. Upon returning from Manchester, our Director of Research Andrew Walters reflected on his main takeaways from the trip:
“Design for Planet was an interesting and thoughtful event, hearing from a range of stakeholders about the opportunities Design brings to create more sustainable models of human consumption. There is hope for the future, but there are of course multiple threats that we must address.
Andy Burnham, spoke about the importance of transport regeneration in Manchester, as well as the importance of making good choices about where to build new homes and new green spaces linked to transport infrastructure. The message was hopeful that this could be a sustainable development whilst also providing new opportunities for people. He warned us that we have a responsibility as designers to create for net zero in a way that creates a more equal society; because in designing for the net zero goal there is a danger that the results could be exclusionary rather than inclusive.
It was also great to hear from Tanya Popeau, Director of Synthesis, informing us that 45% of businesses find ways to incorporate elements of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Whilst there is still much to do to encourage more businesses, there is hope in the form of consumer demand, as she informed us that 90% of consumer expect business to do more.
And it is in this doing more that design can add value. The message of the conference was that design is an effective way to deconstruct challenges so that we move more thoughtfully towards solutions; that design can help business overcome the uncomfortableness of open source and collaboration, leading to new and more sustainable solutions."
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