Design Council announces new climate focus and mission to mobilise UK design community

The leading advocates of the UK design community, Design Council, launched ‘Design for Planet,’ an initiative to galvanise and support the UK’s 1.69 million design community to address the climate crisis.

‘Design for Planet’ is a strategic shift that aims to achieve a sustainable, climate-first future. The shift in focus recognises the fundamental need for everyone to redesign their lives to save the planet. It also seeks to champion the power and responsibility of designers to shape a better world.

Through ‘Design for Planet,’ Design Council will rally designers to bring about the societal shifts needed to accelerate the government’s transition to net zero and ensure the planet will thrive for future generations. Design Council will give a platform to experts in the sector who are leading the way in sustainability, and support others in the industry to imagine a greener world and create the resources for it.

“Design shapes the world and designers have the power and the responsibility to help address the climate emergency. Design for Planet is the start of a new era, one that moves from destruction to regeneration. We look forward to supporting designers across all disciplines to develop and deliver a hopeful future for people and our planet,” says Minnie Moll, CEO at Design Council.

Design Council will hold the first Design for Planet Festival on 9 and 10 November at the V&A Dundee. The live-streamed event will welcome over 100 invited experts and thousands who will participate online from across the UK and internationally.

The two-day event will champion design as a powerful agent of change, featuring talks, practical sessions and design tools that will help all kinds of designers co-create the conditions needed to work more sustainably. The sessions will cover different topics, including the circular economy, the behavioural and fashion revolution and how to design with nature.

The event will run alongside the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) and is organised in partnership with V&A Dundee, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, The National Lottery Community Fund, Architecture and Design Scotland and Snook.