Methods and Tools

GOALS 

Combine and booster the efforts of the Sustainable Design research community by collating the existing work in tools, placing descriptions of the tools in an accessible database for ease of access, providing guidance on which tools to focus future efforts, and promoting the publishing of case studies and tools in popular outlets.

PURPOSE

The working group ”Methods & Tools” has been formed with the mission to combine and bolster the efforts of the Sustainable Design research community by collating the existing work in methods and providing guidance on which tools to focus future efforts. The purpose is to provide a vision and some guidance for the future of sustainable design: to have some consensus to direct and avoid reinventing; to make it easy for companies to adopt and modify and combine tools; to increase access to information on tools and how they are used; and to increase education and training.

This working group shares the complementary visions of 8 researchers:

• from different countries (USA, Canada, Sweden, France, Denmark);
• With heterogeneous experiences (early stage researchers: PhD students, postdoc; assistant/associate prof.);
• With diverse expertises/background (circular economy, eco-design, mechanical engineering …);
• But all working in the field of sustainable design; and takes advantage of:
• A 1-hour online  meeting on a monthly basis, since the end of 2017;
• All collaborative documents shared in one single Google Drive (truly active).

The research question that is driven this working group is: ”What are the gaps related to sustainable design methods and tools the sustainable design community need to address from now to the next 5/10/20 years?”

In order to suggest and come up with a proper roadmap for filling the gaps in knowledge in these areas and bringing sustainable design practices into industry through better understanding of needs of tool users and creators,  different tasks have been accomplished by each participant of this working group, including, review of existing reviews, surveys and questionnaires. After months of discussion, they come up with a consolidate and detailed outline for such a roadmap.
 

HOW TO ENGAGE?

Contact us to learn how to engage at the Design Society and be part of this working group!