Exploring design to environment methods though grassroots initiatives

TL;DR

This paper explores how grassroots initiatives can inform and evolve design-to-environment methods, aiming to better integrate sustainability into industrial product and service design through bottom-up approaches.

Contribution

It introduces a novel research protocol comparing grassroots practices with existing DtE frameworks to enhance sustainability integration in industry.

Findings

Analysis of four DtE frameworks and grassroots practices.

Potential for grassroots-driven sustainability in industry.

Opportunities for non-official designers in life cycle engineering.

Abstract

Targeting sustainability in our industrial society requires integrating specific criteria in the design process of products and processes. A paradigm shift is necessary in the economical, social and political systems to ensure the natural ecosystems preservation on the planet while fulfilling society needs. Various research methods have therefore emerged to change the way products and services are designed, developed, used and discarded considering territorial contexts. Design for Sustainability, Design for Sustainable Transition, Socially Responsible Design, post-growth design, etc. provide several methods integrating the sustainable principles in the design process. However those approaches remain mainly experimental and are limited to the industrial context. In parallel to those approaches a wide variety of grassroots initiatives have emerged in territories. They propose alternative ways to design systems and they integrate new constraints in a practical manner. This research therefore aims to confront the diversity of Design to Environment (DtE) approaches with 'grassroots' initiatives in order to understand the possible evolution of the integration of sustainability into the design process of products and services used in industry. This paper presents the first literature review results of a started project in 2020. An original research protocol is proposed in this paper, based on specific focus groups with grassroots initiatives practitioners and eco-design experts from research and industry. The presentation of four DtE frameworks are analysed in this paper. This research finally discusses the opportunity of integrating the grassroots enriched DtE frameworks by non-officialdesigners in life cycle engineering. This bottom-up process may drive an expression of sustainability in industry aligned with some emerging local socio-technical systems.