In 2016, I was selected for the Schmidt-MacArthur Fellowship under Ellen MacArthur Foundation, United Kingdom. An international programme for postgraduate students and academics on the circular economy, the fellowship provides support for design, engineering and business students to explore innovative and creative opportunities in the transition to a circular economy.
Under this fellowship, I had the chance to interact with some of the brightest minds in design, technology and business, and have discourses on enabling a circular economic ecosystem. Leaping from linear process of usage, consumption and disposal, circular economy believes in the core principle of re-circling material resource and reserve existing stock for a sustainable and resource-abundant tomorrow, circular economy enables resource effective ecosystems today by ensuring collaborative usage, shift to renewable sources of energy and improved manufacturing processes and logistic cycles. With this, Design-for-Circular-Economy (DfCE) is one of the first stepping stones towards creating future ecosystems of well-being living.
Based on the expert talks and Schmidt-MacArthur fellowship’s summer school along with studying and researching on transition design methodologies for effective implementation of circular economy, here are 9 design directions or design trends which are destined for a holistic and systemic impact. These trends can be used and explored as initial design directives for a systemic design journey. Although, not directly, these design trends influence and facilitate gradual shift to a more circular economic ecosystem by appreciating the fundamentals on which designs are created and implemented.
Design Intervention Cards for DfCE:
Mapping the design journeys of several corporate houses with the principles of circular economy, 14 design methods have been compiled and narrowed down to, which intends to aid design students, design thinkers and professionals in their design ideations. These methods can either be used alone or be clubbed together as per the need or wish of the reader of the cards.
- Design Intervention Cards for DfCE : 14 trigger cards to facilitate innovators and design thinkers for holistic circular economic design interventions
How to use the cards:
The DfCE design intervention cards are created to facilitate designers and design thinkers to ideate concepts and solutions towards creating a circular economic impact. The cards are designed to be readily used during idea brainstorming sessions among design peers, primarily helpful in co-creation situations where the card directions can be discussed with the stakeholders of the design brief set.
These cards are segregated methods or principles that can be used as design ideation method cards and can accompany any other design toolkit, wherever the intention is to emerge to a circular economic solution.
The DfCE Di cards have been extensively used during the co-creation workshops conducted for idea brain-storming during the CCfCE (Co-Create for Circular Economy) workshop.
The cards are available in the online repository of the project for free download and usage (
).
Please write to me for the download link.
Bhaskarjyoti Das 