An online thinking guide for the circular economy, developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute has introduced four new learning modules addressing safe and circular design methods.
An online resource for designers, the Circular Design Guide challenges traditional design methods and delivers new approaches, introducing users to circular economy concepts as well as techniques.
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The new “methods” are now live and freely accessible via the Circular Design Guide. They are aimed at helping designers, entrepreneurs and innovators make positive materials choices, as well as rethink the design process to integrate safe and circular principles from the start of the design process.
Funded by the MAVA Foundation, the project emphasises that not all materials are fit for a circular economy. Materials may contains substances or chemicals of concern which can be polluting and potentially hazardous for humans and the environment. These substances are either used unintentionally or added for performance reasons. However, there are ways to design them out.
The series of advanced methods offer up solutions to ensure materials are both safe and circular by considering the system around the product – a key circular design principle. Choosing safe materials should be a consideration through the design process, rather than an afterthought, therefore each method corresponds to a key intervention moment: understand, define, make, and release.
The methods also point to a number of resources, case studies, and tools to enable participants to activate safe and circular materials choices in their design processes. One such tool is MaterialWise, which offers a free platform for screening the substances within a product as a starting point to help ensure the selection of safe, healthy ingredients.
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By GlobalDataEllen MacArthur Foundation and the Institute are co-hosting a webinar on 3 October featuring a panel of designers, brands and experts who will give their take on the role of designers in the development of safe and circular design.
