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Designers as Change Agents: Perceived Roles in Advancing Sustainability in Organizations on Different Design Utilization Levels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2022

F. van der Marel  and
T. Björklund
F. van der Marel*
Affiliation:
Aalto University, Finland
T. Björklund
Affiliation:
Aalto University, Finland
*
floris.vandermarel@aalto.fi

Abstract

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Design scholarship has long roots in tackling wicked problems and sustainability, yet less is known about how professional designers interact with sustainability issues in practice. Based on interviews with 104 designers in 101 organizations in Finland, this study compares designer perceptions on the role of design in advancing sustainability. We identify six common roles, each with various foci on different design maturity levels in organisations. The findings support managers and designers in understanding which capabilities might be needed in advancing the role of design and sustainability.

Keywords

design practicesustainabilitydesign maturitydesign competences
Type
Article
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 2: DESIGN2022 , May 2022 , pp. 1149 - 1158
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2022.

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