Design Council is a Business Reporter client.
Most of the environmental impact of any new product is determined at the design stage, meaning the power to positively change it lies in the hands of the designers.
Design is everywhere: from architecture to fashion, from products to graphics, from transportation to technology (your coffee cup, your home, your mobile phone), it all starts with design.
Throughout history, design has changed our lives for the better. And now, in the face of the climate emergency, it might be design’s time to shine again.
For the past 80 years, the Design Council has championed British design in its role as the national strategic advisor on design. Founded in 1944 by Winston Churchill’s government to help accelerate post-war economic growth, today its mission is to put the planet at the heart of the sector’s work. The power of the Design Council can be harnessed to accelerate a massive transition from our current consumer economy to a regenerative future society.
Good design is green design. By designing more effectively and efficiently, we can restore biodiversity, reduce our waste and move closer to net-zero goals. Designers can choose durable or biodegradable materials, ensure repairs are possible and easy, reimagine our places, retrofit our buildings and plan for what happens at the end of a design’s lifecycle.
The Design Council's flagship research program Design economy The study shows that in 2019 there were 1.97 million people working in design jobs, and that the sector contributed £97.4 billion in gross value added (GVA), a third of the value of the financial sector. These figures make it abundantly clear that design is an important and value-generating field that needs support and investment.
However, the Design Council’s latest findings highlight a gap between the demand designers see for green design projects (71 percent believe it will grow over the next three years) and the capabilities needed to meet that demand (only 46 percent feel prepared).
The Design Council is therefore proposing ways to train designers in regenerative tools and practices, from the classroom to the C-suite. It has developed a Framework for systemic design that guides designers through how to tackle important and complex challenges that involve people from different disciplines, as well as design value framework to capture their social and environmental impact.
The Design Council is also working with the Design and Technology Association to make recommendations to the government on how to reform the Design and Technology GCSE curriculum, a subject that has seen a 67 per cent drop in student uptake since 2010. It is crucial to protect the education system to ensure we have a thriving future generation of British designers. Our recent film series aims to inspire young people to pursue a career in design by showing them what a career in design is all about. Life in design It's like for some well-known inspirational designers throughout the industry.
And design can be good for business too. The Design Council found that for every pound invested in design, you get £20 back.
The theme of your annual Design for the Planet Festival (The fourth edition will be held in Manchester in November) will focus on the theme of planet-positive business. It’s not about selling shiny new “green” products, but about redesigning the system as a whole, fundamentally rethinking the purpose of business and giving Mother Nature a seat at the table. The festival is a time for designers, businesses and politicians to come together and discuss collaborative ways forward.
The jewel of the current Design Council work programme is the upcoming World Design Congresswhich has been selected to host London in September 2025 (the first time the event has come to the UK since 1969). For two days, the global design community will gather at London’s Barbican Centre to showcase examples of design for planetary excellence, motivating and inspiring action.
This eight-decade-old institution has evolved to meet the challenges of its time and we believe we can help the design sector do the same. There is no time to lose.
You can find out more about the World Design Congress and how to participate here: World Design Congress London 2025 – Design Council.
