Making positive change by design

Over the years, my team and I have created a range of free, open-access toolkits to support changemakers in adopting the skills needed to…

The Disruptive Design Method (DDM) is a systems-based approach to creative problem solving for tackling complex social and environmental…

The Circular Economy is all about the transformation of the way we do business, create goods and services, organize society and ultimately…

Sustainable design is the approach to creating products and services that have considered the environmental, social, and economic impacts…

This week, on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, it was the 50th celebration of Earth Day, a single day marked in the 365/6 days in a…

Over the last year, the UnSchool team and I have been working on an exciting project in collaboration with the United Nations Environment…

This pains me to write, but we all have to come to terms with the harsh reality that recycling validates waste and is a placebo to the…

I have long been a fan of showing how problem solving desperately needs systems thinking. If you are familiar with my work, you may have…

In our hyper-consumption based societies, it’s always smart to raise a skeptical eyebrow when you hear organizations make claims of how…

Finland is, by many accounts, known as having the world’s best education system, thanks to its no-homework, student-centric…

Some of us loved it, some loathed it, and many people around the world still fight for the right to access it — school is a universal…

Think about the last time you purchased something that you don’t buy often, like a washing machine, a cell phone, or even a sheet set. What…

We live in a world made up of complex interconnected systems — natural, industrial, and social. Industrial systems involve all the…

We have a collective global challenge unprecedented in the history of humans on this Earth. We have designed ourselves into a tightly wound…

Absolutely everything that is created goes through a series of life cycle stages, from material extraction through to end of life. The…

I’m have been writing a handbook (now out: Circular Systems Design) on the influence of design on our everyday lives and the systems that…

Design influences all of us in profound and often unnoticeable ways. From the subtle shifts in our society to the overt impacts that…

Design is one of the most powerful forces humans have created. Why? Because it influences every single part of our lives — no matter who…

Last year I was bestowed the title of Champions of the Earth from the United Nations Environment Programme, and in honor of the champions…

For people who are concerned about the impacts of consumption, this time of year is extremely painful for both us and our families and…

I have a very distinct memory from when I was around six years old: I was riding in the back of my friend’s mum’s car, and she told us all…

Nearly everything that is created has waste designed into it. Be it in the manufacturing, packaging or the product itself, disposability…

The United Nations estimates that at the current rate of pollution, by 2050, the ocean will be home to more plastic than fish. Studies have…

Over the last five chapters in this series on tools for systems thinkers, I have looked at fundamental concepts, feedback loops, dominant…