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