Category: Design for sustainability
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COP26 – Is 1.5 still alive?
After unprecedented global news coverage, the United Nations COP26 conference ended on 13 November 2021 with the Glasgow Climate Pact agreed by the 196 countries present. The Pact was only achieved after a last-minute weakening of its wording on the use of coal from ‘phase out’ to ‘phase down’ after objections from India […]
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Creative Activism, COP26, Emerging and Forgotten Voices
Today is the last day of COP26 and, being based in Glasgow, I thought it would be a good time to share some thoughts and images. I don’t want to write about COP26 itself, but rather about how creative activism has reshaped the city space and visually and emotionally engaged people in the last two […]
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Doing it for the ‘gram: Design, influencers and affluenza.
There is (rightly) no getting away from discussion of the climate emergency, especially this week as Cop26 is underway in Glasgow. Whilst many problems that contribute to the crisis are global, political and very difficult to solve, there are others that, frustratingly, are driven by greed, social media, and personal choices. We could put the […]
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COP26 UN Climate Change Conference – ‘Code red for Humanity’
Image; Rise in average surface temperature 2048-2051 from 1951-1980 based on IPCC 4th Report, Robin Roy, October 2020 As you’ve probably heard, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) – called COP26 because it’s the 26th annual UN climate change conference since 1995 – will be held in Glasgow, Scotland from […]
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Sustainability in the Built Environment: UK Government Inquiry
Earlier this year the Environmental Audit Committee published a Call for Evidence on how best to reach ‘net zero’ in our built environment. They received 140 written responses, including two from members of the Design group, Alice Moncaster and Jane Anderson. Both were also invited to give evidence in person (virtually), Jane on […]
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Exploring a quantified commute
Like many people I hope to return to my office this autumn for a few days a week. While I am looking forward to catching up with long standing colleagues I haven’t seen for sometime and meeting some of my students in person for the first time, my desire for sociality is tempered by a […]
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Retrofit and new build – the policy reality gap
I was quietly minding my own business on Thursday the 24th of June when not one, but two colleagues emailed me to say that Radio 4’s The World at One was discussing heritage buildings and that I might want to listen in. Through the wonders of BBC Sounds I was able to go back and […]
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The impact of the built environment on climate change – and of climate change on the built environment
Why is the built environment important to climate change? We all live and work in buildings, and they provide us with shelter and warmth, belonging and protection. However the built environment is responsible for a huge 39% of all global carbon emissions, far higher than any other individual sector. This 39% can be divided into […]
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Homeworld ’81 revisited
The Homeworld ’81 BBC Future Home 2000 Last month I attended one of the online events celebrating the 40thanniversary of the Milton Keynes Homeworld ‘81 exhibition. Yes, I am old enough to have been there (so was Robin Roy and a number of other old timers from the OU). Indeed, as I was covering the […]
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Design for repair and maintainability
Recently, I have been thinking about design for repair and maintainability. The three ‘R’s of sustainability remind us to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, but ‘Reuse’ can be a challenge when so many products are not designed with maintenance or repair in mind. Home printers are a good example, with huge numbers of printers ending up in […]