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Can design save the world? Ann Longley, 18 Oct 2017
Topics for today
Creating a shared vision
How are we going to get there?
10 things you can do now
Topics for today
Creating a shared vision
How are we going to get there?
10 things you can do now
Imagine if….
We lived in a lush fertile world producing everything we need
Coral reefs and sea life are thriving
People’s basic needs are metImage Source: McIntyre Drive social housing, Australia, Photo: Trevor Mein
Resources are distributed fairly
Our work and working relationships fulfilling
Technology improves our health and quality of life
Image source: Enabling The Future
The world is full of peace
How does that make you feel?
What is the reality of our situation?
We are destroying our forests
Our reefs are being bleached
Climate change incidents are becoming more frequent
Famines and man-made disasters are on the rise
65+ million people displaced - 500K in Myanmar
Child labour and slavery still exist - 200M child labourers - 120M of them are engaged in hazardous work
Source: The World Counts
1 Billion people = close to 1in 8 of the world’s population live in slums Source: Slum Almanac 2015-2016 – UN-Habitat
Technology is moving faster than our institutions and we’re not really sure what that means
How does that make you feel?
And yet….
“We have, today, accurate, complete equations adequate to provide the foundation of nuclear physics, materials science, chemistry and all plausible forms of engineering.” Franz Wilczek, Nobel Laureate
We are planning to take rockets around the planet
Do we want utopia or dystopia?
Topics for today
Creating a shared vision
How are we going to get there?
10 things you can do now
What is it going to take for us to solve our most serious existential problems?
We are at a decisive point in time
Our existential threats are based on these complex ecological and social systems
Human economy
Climate Change
Exponential human
population growth
Ecological overshoot
Biotic impoverishment and reduction of biodiversity
Renewable resource depletion
Energy allocation
Environmental refugees
Most of these systems have one or more tipping points beyond which change is irreversible (Catton 1982). Passing a tipping point in any one of the eight, complex systems would produce a ripple effect in the other seven and probably throughout the entire biospheric life support system (Solomon et al. 2009).
Image source: World Vision
We may be able to change the trajectory of climate change if we mobilise globally
Desertification may be reversed if we act now
Our interventions can make a difference
Source: Gates Foundation
Our brainpower is about to get supercharged
We are at a tipping point to make a difference: let’s make it our time to flourish
Pursuing profit without any responsibility is hurting us. 700 marine species may become extinct due to plastic.
Source: Plymouth University, One Green Planet
5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris are in the ocean. 269,000 tons float on the surface. 4B plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea.
Source: National Geographic
Promising signs of progress
Countries with intent: Sweden has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2045
Brands with purpose: Unilever is committed to working towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
B Corps certification exists for businesses that have social and/or environmental outcomes as part of their mission
Which brands do we want to support?
Non-profit
For-profit
Collective focusIndividual focus
Do we need a new global council to combat these existential threats?
Skills for the 21st Century
Source OECD Forum 2016 – Skills for the Future
Advanced Digital Problem Solving Skills are in demand. Andreas Schleicher, Director, Education and Skills, OECD
Systems thinking provides the multi-level perspective needed to solve complex problems.
We can use it to assess the impacts of technology Source: Forum for the Future, Tech Catalyst
Design Thinking has become widely accepted as a way to deliver innovation and business transformation
It can also be used to solve some of our most pressing challenges. Its built in optimism (how might we?) helps overcome inertia.
Kick Start Model to end poverty
Kick Start has been using this sustainable design-led model since 1991
Other sources of inspiration
Frugal Innovation
• Applies design thinking and lean start up practices to do more with less
• We can apply it to our big challenges
• We just need to prioritise them and work together - let’s do it
Source: Navi Radjou & Jaideep Prabhu, Forward by Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever.
Aravind Eye Hospital
Founder Dr. Venkataswmy’s aim was make eye clinics accessible to all eliminating needless blindness.
He created a low cost delivery model. • The hospital manufactures its
own lenses keeping costs down.• Its surgeons are possibly the
most productive in the world.
Franchising the clinics makes them ubiquitous & accessible.
Design skills can accelerate progress - agility is important!
Topics for today
Creating a shared vision
How we’re going to get there
10 things you can do now
Small changes in your design solutions can make a big difference
1. Be mindful of the SDGs: promote them whenever possible
2. Be principled: ‘Let us move from human-centered design to humanity-centered design’.
Source
3. Be irreverent when neededSource: Adbusters
4. Design with impacts in mind
5. Apply design thinking to real world problems
6. Run design sprints to save the world
Source: Google Ventures
What if the DEC was created in 2017?
7. Offer pro-bono services to a charity
8. Say no to unethical stuff
9. Engage in design activism Source: Liberate Tate
10. Make ‘design for good’ mandate a magnet for clients and talent
Thank you!
WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
• We can change the world for the better, but we need to act now
@annmargaret
ann@annlongley.net
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