Abstract
The negative environmental, social and economic effects of overconsumption and a throwaway culture have exposed the limits of traditional linear ‘take-make-dispose’ production and consumption patterns. Recently, the shift to a ‘circular economy’ has attracted growing interest as a possible pathway towards more sustainable ways of producing and consuming. Circular business models (e.g. product-service systems, hiring and leasing schemes, collaborative consumption, incentivised return and reuse) aim to keep resources in use for longer, extract maximum value from them whilst in use, and recover and regenerate products or components when they reach their end of life. However, these innovative propositions often encounter important corporate, regulatory and cultural barriers to their introduction. This paper discusses how Design for Behaviour Change (DfBC) – with a focus on Design for Sustainable Behaviour and Practice-oriented design – could contribute to address the latter and foster the transition to a circular economy.
Keywords
design education, maker-space, distance education, formal/informal learning
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.489
Citation
Piscicelli, L., and Ludden, G. (2016) The potential of Design for Behaviour Change to foster the transition to a circular economy, in Lloyd, P. and Bohemia, E. (eds.), Future Focused Thinking - DRS International Conference 2016, 27 - 30 June, Brighton, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.489
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
The potential of Design for Behaviour Change to foster the transition to a circular economy
The negative environmental, social and economic effects of overconsumption and a throwaway culture have exposed the limits of traditional linear ‘take-make-dispose’ production and consumption patterns. Recently, the shift to a ‘circular economy’ has attracted growing interest as a possible pathway towards more sustainable ways of producing and consuming. Circular business models (e.g. product-service systems, hiring and leasing schemes, collaborative consumption, incentivised return and reuse) aim to keep resources in use for longer, extract maximum value from them whilst in use, and recover and regenerate products or components when they reach their end of life. However, these innovative propositions often encounter important corporate, regulatory and cultural barriers to their introduction. This paper discusses how Design for Behaviour Change (DfBC) – with a focus on Design for Sustainable Behaviour and Practice-oriented design – could contribute to address the latter and foster the transition to a circular economy.