Vehicle transportation makes up for a large proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions and is a major contributor of the climate crisis. Even though bikes emit practically no greenhouse gases, the production phase still cause environmental damages. Especially the choice of materials dictates the sustainability of a bike. Thus, the aim of this project is to problematize the current material choices made in the bike industry and explore how sustainable materials can be applied in a product-oriented industry to find sustainable design solutions. The material used in the project is provided by PaperShell Industries that supply a cellulose based and circular material for B2B. In order to fulfil the aim of the project a bike saddle was designed. The theory of circular design was guiding the design process, and various methods was applied. Focus groups were combined with co-designing in an innovation process. The design process was divided into three parts: research, ideation, and realisation. In the first part, focus groups, benchmarking, research ergonomics and research through design were conducted. The second part included brainstorming, mind mapping/tree diagram and moodboard. In the final step sketches and CAD-models were made and an innovation process was applied. Following this design process, the author concluded that fully cellulose based materials are suitable for the bike industry because of the low climate impact. The material also has the right properties for a bike product. The project suggests that circular design can be realized by implementing sustainable materials such as cellulose based materials,

Studien som är ett forskningsprojekt men också en produktutvecklingsprocess utgår från de två forskningsfrågorna: Hur kan man genom design hantera befintligt spillmaterial? Hur kan man genom design förebygga och minska avfall?  Eftersom våra resurser på planeten börjar bli knappa måste vi bli bättre på att ta hand om de resurser vi har. Den här studien handlar om spillmaterial och utgår från befintligt sådant från möbelföretaget Blå station. Detta ska representera och visualisera problematiken med att bra spillmaterial energiåtervinns eller deponeras istället för att användas som material i nya produkter. Studien börjar med en teorigenomgång inom hållbar utveckling och cirkulär ekonomi samt hållbar och cirkulär design. Expertintervjuer har gjorts med två designers samt några designexperiment som syftat till att ta fram möjliga designförslag för spillmaterialet vilket resulterade i tre olika designförslag samt några generella principer för hur man kan hantera spillmaterial samt minska mängden avfall när man tar fram produkter. / This study is a research project as well as a product development process and is based on the two research questions: How can design handle existing left-over materials? How can design prevent and reduce waste?  As our resources on the planet are becoming scarce, we need to better handle the ones we have. This study is about left-over materials and is based on such from the furniture company Blå station. This will represent and visualize the problems we have with good left-over materials is burned or thrown away instead of being used as material in new products. The study starts with a theory review in sustainable development and circular economy together with sustainable and circular design. Expert interviews with two designers were done and some design experiment with the intention to produce some possible design proposals for the left-over material and it resulted in three different proposals and some general principles for how to handle left over materials and also reduce waste in new products.

Spätestens seit der UN-Klimakonferenz COP26 in Glasgow 2021 kön-nen wir für den Zustand der uns umgebenden Welt feststellen: So geht es nicht weiter. Die Geschichte des Designs zeigt viele Überlegungen und Praktiken zur Gestaltung für Nachhaltigkeit, von den Deutschen Werkstätten Hellerau über Victor Papanek bis hin zum Circular Design Guide. Designer:innen gelten als besonders qualifiziert, ganzheitliche Lösungen für komplexe Probleme zu erarbeiten. Die Fähigkeit zum Umgang mit großer Unsicherheit birgt Potenzial, wertvolle Lösungsvor-schläge für die ökologischen, sozialen und ökonomischen Herausforde-rungen zu liefern. Doch blickt man auf die Umbrüche der Gesellschaft im Anthropozän, drängt sich die Frage auf, was Design wirklich zu leisten vermag. Design steht als Disziplin und als Forschungsfeld vor erheblichen Herausforderungen: Wie können wir ressourcenschonend gestalten, ohne dabei eine auf Ungleichheit beruhende Ordnung zu perpetuieren? Oder schließen Design und Nachhaltigkeit einander gar aus? Design scheint also ein ambivalentes Verhältnis zur Nachhal-tigkeit zu haben. So haben sich im Diskurs um Nachhaltigkeit im Design vielfältige Positionen ergeben, die versuchen, Teilhabe, Transparenz und Offenheit mit Blick auf die Folgen von Gestaltung für die Umwelt zu realisieren. Organisationen wie Extinction Rebellion bedienen sich gestalterischer Mittel und fordern auf ihren Demonstrationen zu Kli-magerechtigkeit auf. Partizipation an der Produktion von Konsumgü-tern, wie beispielsweise in der Maker-Bewegung, sollen durch dezentrale Lösungen zur Nachhaltigkeit beitragen. Dies zeigt: Design kann Lösun-gen und Visionen für nachhaltige Zukünfte entwerfen und eine Schnitt-stellenfunktion übernehmen. Gleichwohl gilt es zu bedenken, dass De-sign immer noch einen Zug zum Elitären zu haben scheint. Konzepte wie Zero Waste oder neu gebaute klimaneutrale Stadtviertel scheinen eher auf die Bedürfnisse ohnehin schon Privilegierter zu schauen. Au-ßerdem zeigt die Praxis, dass eine wirklich nachhaltig gestaltete Kon-sumkultur noch in den Kinderschuhen steckt. Wie kann ein Gleichge-wicht zwischen Ressourcen, Wachstum und fair verteiltem Wohlstand gestaltet werden? Welche alternativen Vorschläge können wir entwi-ckeln, um Muster, die zur Aufrechterhaltung von Missständen beitra-gen, zu brechen? Wo liegen die Grenzen dessen, wo Design etwas dazu beitragen kann? Die Jahrestagung 2022 der DGTF beschäftigt sich deshalb mit zentralen Aspekten der Nachhaltigkeit, welche die Arbeitsfelder des Designs berühren. Was und wie kann Design zu nachhaltiger Entwick-lung beitragen? Wie verändert der Nachhaltigkeitsdiskurs Auffassungen von Design, in Theorie und Praxis? Welche Auswirkungen haben An-sätze und Diskurse zu nachhaltiger Entwicklung auf die Designausbil-dung und ‑forschung? Die Jahrestagung der DGTF 2022 ermöglicht einen aktiven Austausch über praktische Ansätze, theoretische Impulse und empirische Erkenntnisse in Form eines Kolloquiums mit Vortrags- und Workshop-Sessions. Die Beiträge beleuchten aktuelle Forschungs- und Studienprojekte sowie explorieren zukünftige Szenarien. Wie kann Nachhaltigkeit in Lehre, Praxis und Forschung adressiert werden, um neue Impulse für gestalterisches Arbeiten zu setzen? Beiträge können dabei unter anderem die folgenden Themen und Fragestellungen umfassen: Materialität — Wie kann für materielle Kreisläufe gestaltet werden? Welche Grenzen und Potenziale liegen in Nischenlösungen der Circular Economy? Was kann aus dem End-of-Life für die Gestal-tung von Produkten und Systemen gelernt werden? Brauchen wir mehr Wenigerdesign – im analogen wie im digitalen Raum? Sind wir in der Lage, auch weniger statt dazu zu entwerfen? Wie wird Wertschöpfung gestaltet, wenn der Einsatz und Verbrauch von Materialien und Res-sourcen minimiert wird? Welche Kompetenzen brauchen in diesem Zusammenhang zukünftige Designer:innen und wie werden diese ver-mittelt? Systeme — Wie wird nachhaltiges Handeln in Systemen wie Netzwerkorganisationen oder Unternehmen gestaltet? Wie sieht Nach-haltigkeit aus, wie kommunizieren wir nachhaltig? Welche Diskurse und Ansätze gestalten die Vermittlung von Design und Nachhaltigkeit? Welchen Einfluss hat die Methodik des Designs auf andere Disziplinen? Welche Rolle kommt Design in interdisziplinären Diskursen zu nach-haltigem Wandel zu? Was können wir aus anderen Disziplinen aufneh-men, welche Schnittstellen gilt es zukünftig weiter zu gestalten? Gerechtigkeit — Nachhaltigkeit kann nicht ohne eine gerech-te Verteilung der Ressourcen gedacht werden. Welche Zukunft möch-ten wir entwerfen und wie kann Gerechtigkeit realisierbar sein? Wie wollen wir in Zukunft leben und arbeiten? Welche sozialen Auswir-kungen hat Gestaltung? Wie kann Design seine Rolle verantwortungs-voll wahrnehmen und nicht nur auf die Bedürfnisse der ohnehin schon Privilegierten schauen? Kann beispielsweise Participatory Design ein Weg sein, eine gerechte Gestaltung für den Klimawandel umzusetzen? Wie kann Design lokal handeln und dabei eine globale Perspektive be-halten? Was sind Wege, die Design außerhalb unserer europäischen Perspektive verorten? Welche Ansätze können aus anderen Systemen, Gesellschaften oder Epochen adaptiert werden und wie können diese heute zu nachhaltiger Entwicklung beitragen? / Since the UN Climate Conference COP26 in Glasgow 2021, we can say: It can't continue like this. The history of design is full of ideas and practices on designing for sustainability, from the Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau to Victor Papanek to the Circular Design Guide. Designers are seen as experts in developing holistic solutions to complex problems. The ability to deal with uncertainty holds potential to provide valuable solutions to environmental, social and economic challenges. But in view of the upheavals of society in the Anthropocene, the question arises as to what design is really capable of achieving. Design faces considerable challenges as a discipline and as a field of research: How can we design in a way that conserves resources without perpetuating an order based on inequality? Or are design and sustainability even mutually exclusive? Design thus seems to have an ambivalent relationship to sus-tainability. Thus, in the discourse around sustainability in design, a variety of positions have emerged around participation, transparency, and openness with an eye toward the consequences of design for the environment. Organizations like Extinction Rebellion use design means and call for climate justice in their demonstrations. Participation in the production of consumer goods, such as in the Maker movement, aim to contribute to sustainability through decentralized solutions. This shows: Design can create solutions and visions for sustainable futures and take on an interface function. Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that design still seems to have a tendency towards elitism. Concepts such as zero waste or newly built climate-neutral city districts seem to address the needs of the already privileged. Moreover, practice shows that a truly sustainably designed consumer culture is still in its infancy. How can a balance between resources, growth and fairly distributed wealth be de-signed? What alternative proposals can we develop to break patterns that contribute to perpetuating grievances? What are the limits of where design can contribute? The 2022 annual conference of the DGTF therefore address-es key aspects of sustainability that connect to design. What and how can design contribute to sustainable development? How does the sustaina-bility discourse change perceptions of design, in theory and practice? What impact do approaches and discourses of sustainable development have on design education and research? The annual conference of DGTF 2022 enables an active ex-change of practical approaches, theoretical impulses and empirical find-ings in presentations and workshop sessions. The contributions highlight current research and study projects as well as explore future scenarios. How can sustainability be addressed in teaching, practice and research in order to set new impulses for design work? Contributions may include, but are not limited to, the fol-lowing topics and issues: Materiality — How can we design for material cycles? What are the limits and potentials of niche solutions in the circular economy? What can be learned from end-of-life for the design of products and systems? Should design operate on the principle of “more is less” - in the analog as well as the digital space? How is value creation designed when the use and consumption of materials and resources is minimized? What competencies do future designers need in this context and how will they be taught? Systems — How is sustainable action shaped in systems such as network organizations or companies? What does sustainability look like, how do we communicate sustainably? Which discourses and ap-proaches shape the communication of design and sustainability? What influence does the methodology of design have on other disciplines? What is the role of design in interdisciplinary discourses on sustainable change? What can we take from other disciplines, which interfaces need to be further shaped in the future? Shared Prosperity — Sustainability cannot be thought of without a fair distribution of resources. What kind of future do we want to design and how can justice be realized? Future designs: How do we want to live and work in the future? What are the social implications of design? How can design play its role responsibly and not just look at the needs of the already privileged? For example, can Participatory Design be a way to implement equitable design for climate change? How can design act locally while maintaining a global perspective? What are ways that locate design outside our European perspective? What approaches can be adapted from other systems, societies, or eras, and how can they contribute to sustainable development today?

Syftet med studien är att genom en kvalitativ forskningsmetod analysera hur mindre varumärken arbetar med - och i framtiden kan och ämnar arbeta med hållbarhetsstrategier i förhållande till expansion. Denna uppsats analyserar både företag och företags hållbarhetsrapporter samtidigt som den ger forskares syn på ämnet. För studien har en abduktiv forskningsansats använts. Forskningsmetoden är kvalitativ och djupintervjuer har gjorts med 6 olika informanter. För intervjuerna har en semistrukturerad intervjumall använts. Intervjuernas resultat har tytt på att kunskapsnivån om hållbarhetsstrategier hos företag är relativt låg men att intresset för en högre kunskapsnivå finns. Huruvida ett mindre modeföretag arbetar med hållbarhet verkar bero på storlek på företaget. Hur väl en hållbarhetsstrategi kan passa på ett företag verkar också bero på storlek på företaget. / The purpose of the study is to analyze, through a qualitative research method, how smaller brands work with - and in the future can and aims to work on sustainability strategies in relation to expansion. This paper analyzes both companies and manufactures sustainability reports while providing researchers views on the topic. For the study an abductive research approach has been used. The research method is qualitative and in-depth interviews have been conducted with 6 different informants. For the interviews a semi structured interview has been used. Interview results have shown that the level of knowledge about sustainability strategies at companies is relatively low, but that interest in a higher level of knowledge exists. Whether a small fashion company works with sustainability seems to depend on the size of the company. How well a sustainability strategy can suit a business also seems to depend on the size of the company.

Varje år slänger svensken 74 kilo mat per person. För att förstå vad och varför vi slänger mat gick jag igenom vad ett hyreshus slänger i soprummet. Bland den slängda maten kunde jag se att de boende äter mycket ägg och tillsammans med de boende bestämde vi oss för att dem skulle testa att bli hönsägare. I mitt designarbete har jag designat ett modulärt hönshus och ett driftsystem för att de boende i hyreshuset tillsammans ska ta hand om höns och ge sina matrester till hönorna. Jag har undersökt vad de boende behöver för skapa gemenskap kring huset och på bäst sätt sköta driften. Med insikter från denna prototyp designade ytterligare ett modulärt hönshus, denna gång matas hönsen på Konstfack med Konstfacks restaurangs matrester. Jag kallar projektet ”The urban hens” och vill med detta projekt skapa en social mötesplats och verka för en mer cirkulär matekonomi som kan öka förståelse för matens värde.

Experimental design is a practice operating at the limit between craftmanship, art and technology. In collaboration with the studio breadeEscalope (Vienna, Austria) this project oscillates between research and production to study the link between industrial and experimental approach to design.  Hitherto initiated from an impulse or a problem requiring solution, the action of designing suggest a product or a service to fulfill needs. In industrial design, the creative process follows contextually anchored steps to frame, define, develop and deliver. For the sake of a pragmatic answer, the delivery is centred around the user and its needs, often leading to an opaque finished product.  Home’s basic, the coat rack was selected to support this study as a concrete product base for trend and consumer behavior analysis. From shared ornamental and functional object placed in the entrance of houses, the coat rack previously “hatstand”, is today an unnoticed domestic object. The final product was hand manufactured with recycled and raw component, allowing transparency on the production process and used material. Stacking up coats on the produced rack create a private space for the user to sit in, questioning the relationship between user and product (ownership, trust, value). Based on architectural concept and design theory, the product aims to bridge creative and technical disciplines to suggest a functional yet questionable product as dialogue starter.  How sustainable are the objects that surround us every day? What is the story of the product? With those question in head the experimental design thinking studio breadedEscalope based in Vienna (Austria), offers an alternative approach to design. Always starting projects with the production process as a story of formations, offering unique and playful outcome to the act of designing. / Experimentell design är en praxis som fungerar på gränsen mellan hantverk, konst och teknik. I samarbete med studio breadeEscalope (Wien, Österrike) pendlar detta projekt mellan forskning och produktion för att studera sambandet mellan industriell och experimentell strategi för design.  Hittills initierad från en impuls eller ett problem som kräver lösning, föreslår åtgärden att designa en produkt eller en tjänst för att uppfylla behoven. Inom industriell design följer den kreativa processen kontextuellt förankrade steg för att rama in, definiera, utveckla och leverera. För ett pragmatiskt svar är leveransen centrerad kring användaren och dess behov, vilket ofta leder till en ogenomskinlig färdig produkt.  Hemmets grund, klädhänget valdes för att stödja denna studie som en konkret produktbas för trend- och konsumentbeteendeanalys. Från delat prydnads- och funktionellt föremål placerat i ingången till hus är klädhänget tidigare "hatstand", idag ett obemärkt inhemskt föremål. Slutprodukten tillverkades för hand med återvunnen och rå komponent, vilket gav insyn i produktionsprocessen och använt material. Att stapla upp rockar på det producerade racket skapar ett privat utrymme för användaren att sitta i och ifrågasätter förhållandet mellan användare och produkt (ägande, förtroende, värde). Baserat på arkitektoniska koncept och designteori syftar produkten till att överbrygga kreativa och tekniska discipliner för att föreslå en funktionell men tvivelaktig produkt som dialogstartare.  Hur hållbara är de objekt som omger oss varje dag? Vad är historien om produkten? Med dessa frågor i huvudet erbjuder den experimentella designtänkande studion breadedEscalope baserad i Wien (Österrike), ett alternativt tillvägagångssätt för design. Alltid starta projekt med produktionsprocessen som en berättelse om formationer, erbjuder unikt och lekfullt resultat till handlingen att designa.

Today, circular economy is becoming more and more important to think about when developing new solutions, and considering the growing and aging population it may be extra important when it comes to the design of solutions for health care. This thesis aims at exploring how a digital health technology solution for incontinence care can be designed to contribute to a circular economy. In order to achieve the aim, a case study is performed with the intention to answer four different research questions. To gather data and information, the study also uses methods such as interviews, surveys, and a literature study. The first conclusion that can be drawn is that there are eight different circular design strategy categories, each category with a unique focus area, that are assessed to be suitable to investigate for the given purpose. Three examples of focus areas of these categories are to reuse resources, to influence the user behaviour, and to prolong the use phase for a solution somehow. Furthermore, the users and the production company are seen as the most significant actors for the studied digital health technology solution, and together they have ten important requests including needs regarding provision of knowledge, easily understandable solutions, and peace of mind to mention some. Based on the conclusions regarding circular design strategies and important requests, three concepts are developed which in different ways are assessed to contribute to both circularity and to fulfilling actor requests. One of the concepts focuses on prolonging the use of some components by providing an adapted cleaning kit to keep the components at a high hygienic standard. Another concept focuses on encouraging correct usage of the whole solution through giving the users personal statistics and notifications related to monetary and environmental costs. The last concept aims at providing a simple way to return reusable components to the company in order to enable reuse by another user. Finally, conclusions regarding positive and negative aspects of the three developed concepts are presented, focusing on attributes such as circularity and value creation. The thesis presents different ways regarding how circular design strategies can be applied to a digital health technology solution, which can inspire and aid organisations in their way towards providing solutions that are adapted to fit a circular economy.

aus dem Inhalt: „Designer:innen stehen heute vor der komplexen Aufgabe ihre Designdienstleistungen transparent und nachvollziehbar Richtung Kreislaufwirtschaft auszurichten. Ein neu entwickeltes Toolkit für Circular Design hilft alle Dimensionen der Produktgestaltung zu berücksichtigen und einen Dialog auf Augenhöhe mit den Hersteller:innen zu führen....”

In this article, we argue that the software “Fab City OS” fosters circular design. Our methodology is that we first define circular design from literature and then explain how “Fab City OS” fosters it. We argue from the context of the widespread availability of computer-aided design (CAD) tools and fabrication machines (CNC, 3D printer…). We see this in combination with increasing ease of access to places of production (Fab-, Textile-, Bio-, … Labs). If combined via Fab City OS, the two can leverage the potential of design for a circular economy. As the name says, Fab City OS is meant to be the operating system for “Fab Cities” (Díez, 2018). Fab City OS builds upon the work of Dr.-Ing. Tobias Redlich .

How can we use more of the materials and products that have already been produced? At the second hand shopping mall ReTuna in Eskilstuna, where circular flows are a reality, there are still many products going to waste. This master thesis project explores the possibilities of upcycle and repurpose driven design, and by that adding new value to existing products. The process of doing that is the basis of this report.  ReTuna Återbruksgalleria is a place where people can leave products they do not want or need anymore.Everyday hundreds of products are left for reuse at ReTuna, which is connected to the overconsumptionthat results in copious amounts of second hand products. Much more than can be taken care of in today’s system. The resources put into every product needs to be valued accordingly to what they truly cost and emit.  This master’s thesis project explores how to design within the planetary boundaries by taking care and responsibility for what already is produced. The first phase of the project consists of observations and interviews to get an understanding of how ReTuna works. The framing of the project was decided after the research phase, which resulted in focus on one specific product, dining chairs. The next part of the project involves upcycling workshops, building of prototypes and an exhibition, all with a focus on increasing the value for second hand chairsand giving the material new areas of use. The last part of the project presents a design result, with an approach for involving more repurpose driven design and upcycling within design and product development.