DESIGN POESI

The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts: KADK – have chosen UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals: the 17 SDGs –  as their leading agenda for the next 3 years. That is a brave, vice and necessary decision, because it will prepare the students for the world that is coming. Even if we do not like it – WE NEED TO CHANGE HABITS, and the faster the better. The 17 SDGs is the work of all UNs 193 countries, that has agreed on, and worked out this new revitalized global partnership for sustainable development. Personally I am moved by the thought, that this was possbile and now we all need to act on this. KADK is doing their part by devoting to developing design and architecture that can contribute to a more sustainable world. Below a pix from the openning conference at KADK with among other interesting speakers; former UN Secretary General Mogens Lykketoft from Denmark.

In collaboration with Mandag Morgen Sustainia, KADK intends to show how the UN global goals can be realised in practice, whilst creating the basis for a new era of growth within Danish design driven by innovative solutions that respond to national and global problems.

And KADK is alone. More organisations and institutions are being inspireret by the 17 SDGs. Like the Norwegian Center for Design and Architecture, they have made ‘The Oslo Manifesto’. Check is out, join them.

In just one week I have attended 3 / three! conferences about sustainability and the circular economy in Denmark. Change is needed and this topic is hot.

The Circular Way

At the 24. of January in the heart of the Copenhagen at the Danish Parliament; Christiansborg Palace – the Danish Design Council and the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) hosted an afternoon conference about the role of design in the circular economy.  The Circular Way have the intention to let Danish companies know, that they can benefit from designers who can ‘think circular’, thus improving and optimizing their current production. It was done in a mix of inspiring talks from among others: Stephanie Hubold from Ellen MacArthur Foundations and the Danish politician Ida Auken, and students presenting the outcome of three Hackathons targeted different industrial.

KOM NU!  Brug dine indkøb – brug dine penge til at ‘stemme med’. Virksomhederne har utrolig stor magt i vores samfund og verden. Men du besidder den ultimative magt, vær bevidst om det og brug den! Stem på virksomheder der gør en forskel, når du handler.

Jeg ved godt, at dette opråb nok virker desperat, men jeg synes egentligt at det er helt i orden, for situationen er alvorlig og kalder på det. Der er brug for HANDLING nu. Og pointen herfra er, – at det både er MIG og DIG og alle andre, der kan og skal gøre sit bedste for dermed at medskabe forandring. Den sker ikke uden os … dig og mig …

Vores forbrugsmønstre har skabt et ressourceforbrug som kloden ikke kan følge med i, og vi står derfor overfor MEGA store udfordringer og klart i kategori wicked problem. Og hvis du tænker; ‘åh, jeg er jo bare en lille lort i noget meget stort’ (Tor Nørretranders om mennesket i universet) – så har du ret, men hvis det så får dig til at tro, at du ikke kan gøre nogen forskel! Så er jeg ikke enig. For vi kan forener vores intelligens og bevidsthed og udrette det vildeste. Prøv bare at kigge bagud, – jo vi kan godt. Og det er netop derfor, at vi nu alle sammen skal bidrager, både med hjerne-kraft og købe-kraft, for sammen kan vi ændre kursen på vores fælles supertankers destination.

Husk – hvert skridt er på en vej. Hvert køb tæller.  Køb færre ting, i bedre kvalitet.

Rigtigt godt nytår. Make it happen in 2017

Walter Stahel was the keynote speaker in Herning, Denmark at the Circular Economy Conference at VIA, on the 28. of November 2016. Stahel is an icon within the circular economy mindset, since he has worked as founder and director of The Product-Life Institute in Geneva since its foundation in 1983, and here has invented the phrase ‘cradle-to-cradle‘ and is widely regarded as one of the world’s most eminent thinkers on the circular economy long before it was wonderfully framed by Ellen MacArthur Foundations. Walter Stahel continues today to promote the ideas through conference presentations and publications based on the first established consultancy in Europe devoted to developing sustainable strategies and policies.

At the conference also practical exampels from the circuar economy with the closed loop PE workwear and fashion garments by Dutch aWEARness was presented by the Dutch pioneer, Rien Otte, who explained about his work and made the words come fully alive with a fashionshow.

In the evening after the conference I had the great pleasure of dinning with both of thise two foresighted and openminded gentlemens. Very honored, thank you.

Illustration lent by Fashion Revolution

The fashion and textile industry is one of the most polluting and wasteful industries in the world with a high consumption of water, energy, chemicals and pesticides used for crop production, and all of this affects both the environment and the people working in the industries. But unlike many other industries, most of us actually have access to participate in changing the industry and this is already taking place …

Like in the US where more than 14 percent of consumers in 2016 looked for apparel and accessories made from natural materials, this is up from 12.9 percent the year before, according to a Euromonitor International survey. Shoppers looking for clothes that were reused or recycled rose 2 percent in 2016, and more millennials looked for “sustainably produced” apparel and accessories than any other age group. Read more about the development in the US here.

In Denmark we use the equivalent to 16 kg textiles per Dane per year – this being garments and house textiles and only half of it is will be either recycled or reused, where the rest will probably go into incinerators. In Denmark we used to produce textiles, but this production has been moved to cheaper manufactor places, like Asia, North Africa and Eastern EU, and yet the fashion and textile industry is still one of the country’s largest export industry. The industry employs about 10,000 people who design, develops and sells clothing and textiles and in 2012 exported for about 33 billion. Dkr. I see this as a great opportunity to shape the development and gain influence. – All designers please wake up, be aware and join forces.  – This is a great possibility.

For customers buying clothes, there are some basic guidelines that is good – and easy to follow, if you like be dress sustainable:

Choose to buy less and in high quality for the cloths to last long, and here think of both function and style while purchasing. Products designed to last long is a great start, since manufactoring the garments is the most polluting part of it’s lifespan.  That also gives you the possibility to sell it 2. hand if you no longer use the garment.

Look for garment with environmental labels, which in Denmark could be Svanen, Blomsten, GOTS, Oeko Tex, Ecolabel or other labels that certifies, that the products material and/or manufactoring has been made in a environmental friendly way.

Also remember to wash your garment at the lowest possible temperatur to save energy in the use phase, and when your textiles are used up, like totally finished and used up, then hand it in for recycling – for the fibers to be used again for new textiles. Yeha.

In short: – buy less and in good quality, products made from reused materials, or 2. hand – for ressources to be keeps in loops for a long as possible. And when you do no longer want it, then sell it 2. hand or pass it on, and when the textile is totally used up and finish – hand it in for recycling, for it to keep on looping OO

http://www.reclaimtowear.com/

http://www.ecap.eu.com

Bellow Adidas sneakers made from ocean plastic.

Another View is a Danish fashion brand working for a – Clean and Fair fashion industry, based on Renewable and Recycled materials and new circular business models, where garments are only produced after you place your orders. Here Another View popped up at my place with their apparel collection and a talk about sustainable fashion and the chance to inter their community. Please watch 2.5 min. video here, – about the way they work – in Danish.)

The LAUNCH Nordic Summit 2015 was held at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, – in short KADK.

For the 2. time people from the US and around the world gathered for the Summit to connect, share and network in the spirit of reaching sustainable solutions within this years challenge theme: New Materials & Feedstock. Experiences was shared by participants from last years and at the summit, we all took a look at the coming LAUNCH Nordic Challenge 2015 – that will be focusing on ‘New Materials & Feedstock’. This years work could fx. include innovative approaches to lower water and chemical consumption in production, use, and recycling of materials.

LAUNCH Nordic was first created in the US in a strategic partnership, and now also comes in a Nordic version as a collaboration between IKEA, Novozymes, Kvadrat and Nordic Government Institutions with joined forces to spearhead the Nordic effort to drive system innovation and help identify and scale sustainable innovations in materials.

LAUNCH Nordic CHALLENGE2015  is now open for your innovation. Please imagined how to use fx. less water and chemicals in production, or try to think of a new system for sending plastic into recycling. Inter the Challenge and then if your innovation is ambitious and visionary, you may get chosen …

Read more about is here Launch Nordic Challenge 2015.

Two new networks where launched on the same day.

The Circular Economy Network are presenting, communicating and sharing knowledge and new findings on things going on in the area in DK in a facebook group. At the launch event at Docken in Copenhagen also an expo with Cradle to Cradle certified products where on show. Different initiatives within the are of circular economy where showing their ideas and projects.

The same day also the Chora Connection held their opening conference with prominent speakers and a high-end board. Now it is exciting to see what and how this new network will act and work.

At the opening a dialogue between where a philosopher asked questions to the new Director was an interesting way of getting in and out and around his ideas and thoughts about the coming centre. 

Photographer Alexey Kljatov has captured this unique and spectacular, naturally made designs. Please enjoy the diversity of nature, and for more beautiful macro photos of snowflakes press here.

Happy New Year to all DESIGN POESI visitors, I wish you all a wonderful and viable new year.  ENJOY

Doing 4 weeks of teaching at TongJi University in Shanghai, I had the great fortune of participating in at long weekend trip arranged by The Danish Cultural Institute; director Eric Messerschmidt. Accompanied by the dean and professors from Beijing School of Architecture, Danish architects and the Danish artist Bjørn Nørgaard, we went to XingYi in the province of Guizhou in southern China. The purpose of the trip was to visit the Wonderful Vally project, explore the completely breathtaking mountain scenery, and then to participate in a workshop coming up with ideas and suggestions on how to achieve sustainable development of the area – and fulfill the already made plans for growth in this beautiful spot in China.

On our trip around the area we were presented with the ambitious plans to attract tourists, new inhabitants and prevent the area’s younger residents from leaving for education and only returning to visit their parents. We saw the planned Conference Center which was already under construction and understood, that these plans were very well on their way and soon to be.

When we visited a small mountain village, again I was struck by how big the gap is between the old and new, modern and ancient China. We where invited for ‘the and talk’ around the low table, and I was fortunate to be sitting beside a very entrepreneurial woman (with yellow collar) from the village, the mayor (to her left) and the translator Liza (to his left). We talked about the houses and lack of modernity in their living museum, and very important their daily life. Here I was explained that young people leave their village to go to school and then later for higher education, having their older relatives looking after their children, while they study or make a living in faraway places. Only returning to help their family to harvest. This makes the demographic composition becomes very scattered and is part of the challenge that need to be solved.

This Wonderful Vally really deserve to be visited by all who appreciate our planet marvelous hidden corners, and I hope fervently that when this happens, then it becomes like Eco Tourists, who leaves nothing but their footprint in the gravel, letting this beautiful place survive.