Circular economy champion Ellen MacArthur has called on designers to help transform the global economy along sustainable lines.
The British former round-the-world sailor and founder of circular-economy charity Ellen MacArthur Foundation said she wanted architects and designers to join her fight to eradicate industrial waste and pollution.
"The design fraternity is absolutely a target for us, because designers build the world," MacArthur told Dezeen. "So they're an absolutely vital fraternity in designing something that fits within the [circular] system."
"Design for recovery" says MacArthur
MacArthur, who gave up her record-breaking solo sailing career to launch her foundation, said it was vital to get designers and architects on board to ensure that products and buildings are designed to help regenerate the planet, rather than exploit it. "I would encourage designers to think about how the creative process can build something much broader than their product, and how their product can fit in that much broader restorative system," she said.
"What happens when your product comes to the end of its use period" Can your product have many use periods" Can you design for the future, design for recovery, to deliver even more value in the future""
Initiatives by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation include a guide to circular design
She added: "If you think about young people going through education today, if they want ...