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Systems Failures: Gross Domestic Product and the Hyper-Consumption Loop
Systems Failures: Gross Domestic Product and the Hyper-Consumption Loop
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…
Leyla Acaroglu
May 25
System Failures: Planned Obsolescence and Enforced Disposability
System Failures: Planned Obsolescence and Enforced Disposability
We live in a world made up of complex interconnected systems — natural, industrial, and social. Industrial systems involve all the…
Leyla Acaroglu
May 7
The Global Post Disposable Design Challenge Briefs
The Global Post Disposable Design Challenge Briefs
We have a collective global challenge unprecedented in the history of humans on this Earth. We have designed ourselves into a tightly wound…
Leyla Acaroglu
Mar 7
A Guide to Life Cycle Thinking
A Guide to Life Cycle Thinking
Absolutely everything that is created goes through a series of life cycle stages, from material extraction through to end of life. The…
Leyla Acaroglu
Mar 5
A Manifesto for Design-Led Systems Change
A Manifesto for Design-Led Systems Change
I’m writing a book on the ubiquitous influence of design on our everyday lives and the systems that sustain the planet. It looks at how…
Leyla Acaroglu
Feb 4
Six Steps to Circular Systems Design
Six Steps to Circular Systems Design
Design influences all of us in profound and often unnoticeable ways. From the subtle shifts in our society to the overt impacts that…
Leyla Acaroglu
Jan 21
Design for Disposability
Design for Disposability
Design is one of the most powerful forces humans have created. Why? Because it influences every single part of our lives — no matter who…
Leyla Acaroglu
Jan 3
Champions of Sustainable Design
Champions of Sustainable Design
Last year I was bestowed the title of Champions of the Earth from the United Nations Environment Programme, and in honor of the champions…
Leyla Acaroglu
Dec 15, 2017
5 Ways to Disrupt Holiday Consumerism
5 Ways to Disrupt Holiday Consumerism
For people who are concerned about the impacts of consumption, this time of year is extremely painful for both us and our families and…
Leyla Acaroglu
Dec 14, 2017
How Does Change Happen? Learnings from 30 Years of the Montreal Protocol
How Does Change Happen? Learnings from 30 Years of the Montreal Protocol
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…
Leyla Acaroglu
Dec 2, 2017
What Will it Take to Redesign a Hyper-Disposable World?
What Will it Take to Redesign a Hyper-Disposable World?
Nearly everything that is created has waste designed into it. Be it in the manufacturing, packaging or the product itself, disposability…
Leyla Acaroglu
Nov 7, 2017
Ocean plastic waste getting you down? Bust through the Negativity Bias: Become a Problem Lover
Ocean plastic waste getting you down? Bust through the Negativity Bias: Become a Problem Lover
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…
Leyla Acaroglu
Oct 30, 2017
Tools for Systems Thinkers: Designing Circular Systems
Tools for Systems Thinkers: Designing Circular Systems
Over the last five chapters in this series on tools for systems thinkers, I have looked at fundamental concepts, feedback loops, dominant…
Leyla Acaroglu
Oct 22, 2017
Tools for Systems Thinkers: 7 Steps to Move from Insights to Interventions
Tools for Systems Thinkers: 7 Steps to Move from Insights to Interventions
In the previous four chapters of this series, I discussed the different concepts, approaches, and tools for activating systems thinking…
Leyla Acaroglu
Oct 8, 2017
Tools for Systems Thinkers: The 12 Recurring Systems Archetypes
Tools for Systems Thinkers: The 12 Recurring Systems Archetypes
Archetypes are recurring patterns of behavior that give insights into the structures that drive systems. They offer a way of deciphering…
Leyla Acaroglu
Sep 29, 2017
Tools for Systems Thinkers: Systems Mapping
Tools for Systems Thinkers: Systems Mapping
Systems thinking requires a shift in our perception of the world around us. In order to build a new multidimensional thinking framework, we…
Leyla Acaroglu
Sep 20, 2017
Tools for Systems Thinkers: Getting into Systems Dynamics… and Bathtubs
Tools for Systems Thinkers: Getting into Systems Dynamics… and Bathtubs
In the last chapter of this series, The 6 Fundamental Concepts of Systems Thinking, I explored some of the key concepts of systems thinking…
Leyla Acaroglu
Sep 13, 2017
Tools for Systems Thinkers: The 6 Fundamental Concepts of Systems Thinking
Tools for Systems Thinkers: The 6 Fundamental Concepts of Systems Thinking
In this series on systems thinking, I share the key insights and tools needed to develop and advance a systems mindset for dealing with…
Leyla Acaroglu
Sep 7, 2017
Clothing: We’re In It Together
Clothing: We’re In It Together
One of the aims of my work is decoupling the word “fashion” from “clothing”. We all wear clothes — but we care about fashion to varying…
Emma Segal
Aug 23, 2017
Making Change by Design: The Disruptive Design Method
Making Change by Design: The Disruptive Design Method
Design is a powerful tool to change the world. Humans have been constructing their experience of the world to meet their needs by design…
Leyla Acaroglu
Aug 17, 2017
On Collaboration: Activating Circular Systems Design, by Design
On Collaboration: Activating Circular Systems Design, by Design
As designers we know how beautifully-designed things make us feel, but, so many of the critical thinking tools for concepts like Systems…
Leyla Acaroglu
Aug 4, 2017
Why Every Day is Earth Day
Why Every Day is Earth Day
Twenty three thousand times a day. That’s how often, on average, a human breathes. Consider that as 23,000 reminders that every day is…
Leyla Acaroglu
Apr 21, 2017
Sustainable Lifestyles? How Design Can Lead Us to a Post-Disposable Society
Sustainable Lifestyles? How Design Can Lead Us to a Post-Disposable Society
This week I was invited to present at the United Nations Partnership For Action on the Green Economy (PAGE) Ministerial Conference in…
Leyla Acaroglu
Mar 30, 2017
The Power of Collaboration
The Power of Collaboration
(An interview between collaborators, Dr. Leyla Acaroglu and Emma Segal)
Disrupt Design
Feb 17, 2017
Why I Started a Gang for Creative Rebels & Change Agents
Why I Started a Gang for Creative Rebels & Change Agents
I started a gang. Yes, a gang. But not the kind you might imagine.
Leyla Acaroglu
Jan 20, 2017
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