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This year's Design for Planet Festival focused on how to design for Planet Positive Business. We had an incredible line up of design, business and government leaders on how the power of design can be used to achieve both economic and environmental success.
If you want to catch up on any of the sessions you can view them all on demand by following these simple steps:
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2. Click on Agenda and then Schedule.
3. Scroll through the sessions and click Play.
Professor Martyn Evans is Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Arts & Humanities and Director of Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Advisory Board and a member of the College of Experts for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS).
Interested in the strategic role that design commands in a variety of settings, his research explores the approaches designers use to conceptualise and communicate the future as a driver for innovation. With broad experience of design as future making, he has presented on this and related topics, nationally and internationally. He is a reviewer for a number of research councils and has significant experience of funded research projects, as both principal- and co-investigator.
He has supervised numerous doctoral candidates in a variety of design areas with majority of these exploring the value that design brings to organisational and societal settings. With an extensive track record of undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum development, and external examinership roles in the UK and South Korea, Martyn has a broad range of leadership experience in UK Higher Education Institutions including roles as head of department and director of research.
Minnie spent years in innovation, design, advertising and brand consultancy. She was Managing Partner of HHCL, the ‘Advertising Agency of the decade’ and then Global Marketing Director of Innovation company ?What If!, which won Great Place to Work Institute’s ‘Best Place to Work in the UK’ two years running.
Minnie was voted Vistage UK Business Leader of the Year in 2020. Always a purpose driven business leader, she has proved you can do well and do good. While Joint Chief Executive of the East of England Co-op, they won Alzheimer’s Society ‘Large Business of the Year’ in 2016. That year she was appointed by HRH Prince Charles as his Ambassador for Responsible Business in the East of England. She has passion for place making and has been a Board member of two Business Improvement Districts and a Town Deals Board.
Minnie has a First-Class Degree in Creative Arts. She is also a qualified Transformational Coach. When she’s not working, Minnie can be found animal wrangling and driving her 1952 little grey Fergie tractor.
Patrick Grant has a lot to say about clothes; how many we buy, how we value them, what they’re made from, and importantly who made them and where. His campaigning clothes brand Community Clothing supports local clothing and textile manufacturers across the UK and Patrick is an outspoken advocate for radical change in the fashion and clothing industry, for moving beyond sustainable to circular and regenerative. Patrick’s career in fashion has spanned almost two decades. In that time he has rebuilt the Savile Row tailor Norton & Sons, relaunched E. Tautz, for which he won Menswear Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards, and built the most successful designer collaboration in Debenham’s history with Hammond & Co. He has worked with some of the world’s best known brands including Cartier, Rolls Royce, Lotus, BMW, Mercedes, The Macallan, Chivas Regal, Barbour, Christian Louboutin, and Alexander McQueen. Then in 2015 Patrick bought the ailing Blackburn clothing manufacturer Cookson & Clegg, saving the factory from closure. This got him thinking about the fate of the many other great UK textile and garment makers, many of which he knew well, and how to secure their future and the future prosperity of the communities that those businesses support. The result of this thinking was Community Clothing which was launched in 2016 and has since earned him widespread praise. Patrick is a regular on TV and Radio, as a commentator and a documentary maker, but he is best known for his role on the hit BBC series The Great British Sewing Bee, which was nominated for a BAFTA in 2022. Patrick won Celebrity Mastermind and The Weakest Link, but didn’t do as well in Masterchef. He has written on diverse subjects for many titles including The Financial Times, The Times and GQ. He has written three books, Original Man, published in 2014, and will release LESS and The Savile Row Suit in May 2024 . Patrick has a degree in Materials Science from Leeds and an MBA from Oxford, an honorary Doctorate from Heriot Watt, an honorary Fellowship from UCLan, is an honorary Professor at Glasgow Caledonian, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2018 he gave a Ted Talk about the thinking behind Community Clothing. And he is an ambassador for The King’s Foundation, a charity which supports education activities for people of all ages across the UK. .
James Vaccaro is a sustainability strategist applying systems thinking to business model innovation and sustainable finance.
As CEO of RePattern, James supports organisations and their stakeholders in collective business model design processes; convening people to form new patterns of relationship which can enable flows of finance for sustainability progress. He advises organisations catalysing regenerative agriculture transition and nature restoration. James also acts as Chief Catalyst of the Climate Safe Lending Network, a global multi-stakeholder collaboration to accelerate climate action in banking. He was previously Director of Strategy for Triodos Bank, Europe's leading positive impact financial institution. He previously managed the Triodos investment business (corporate finance, venture capital and infrastructure funds) and held board positions in a range of leading environmental and social businesses.
James is a Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership (CISL). He was a founding developer of the UN Principles for Responsible Banking, and sits on the advisory panel for GFANZ (the Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net Zero) and the UK's Transition Plan Taskforce. James is a Senior Fellow of the Finance Innovation Lab, a director of Regen, an advisor for climate start-up accelerator Carbon13, and advisor to the Club of Rome's finance impact hub, and Horizon Europe funded research project Naturescapes.
Katie trained as an Economist, and has worked for national, regional and local governments. She also represented a region of the UK to the European Union institutions. She was an advisor to Governments of Poland and Lithuania on EU matters, whilst living in Eastern Europe. She has created and / or run five social start ups in Bulgaria, Europe and the UK, and was in the vanguard of the work on impact investment in the UK, having established the City of London Corporation's first impact investment fund and set up Access Foundation, a sister organisation to Big (now Better) Society Capital.
Since 2015, Katie has held a variety of executive and non executive positions in B Lab relating to rolling out the B Corp movement, and was B Lab UK's first Executive Director from its inception in 2015. She is currently Co-Chair of B Lab Global movement alongside its co-founder. She is a proud Board member of Thirty Percy Foundation, an innovative family funded charity that seeks to experiment with new approaches to philanthropy , and is a Trustee with the campaigning organisation, Global Action Plan. Katie went back to university later in life to study for an MBA, with a determination to work to join the dots between equity, sustainability, business, and policy. It is very much work in progress and made more enjoyable by the phenomenal people from so many different walks of life, who are committed to the same goals.
Martyn spent 17 years as Creative Director at Cathedral Group, one of the UK's leading including mixed-use regeneration development companies, before leaving to become the Development Director at the 1,200-acre Dartington Hall Estate in Devon in 2016. He returned to the company (which had become U+I) in 2019 to deliver the creative strategy at the heart of its purpose-driven development portfolio including major regeneration schemes in Manchester, London and Cambridge and was part of the team that completed the sale of the company to Landsec in December 2021.
Now Martyn is Creative Director of one of the largest regeneration development portfolios in the UK including Mayfield in Manchester, St David's Centre in Cardiff, Buchanan Galleries in Glasow and the 120-acre, 6,000-home new town in north west Cambridge at Hartree. Martyn is a visiting lecturer at a number of architecture schools including The Bartlett and Manchester School of Architecture, is Chair of the London Festival of Architecture and founder of The Young Architects and Developers Alliance (YADA), a networking organisation that fuels partnership and understanding between young architects and developers. He has been a jury member of the AJ's Small Projects, The Architect of the Year, the NLA and the Estates Gazette Awards, writes a regular column in BDOnline and contributes to the Estates Gazette.
Alison Carlin, co-founder of Manchester Fashion Movement. Originally from Derry, moved to Manchester 29 years ago to study Media Performance at Salford University whilst immersing herself in the city's arts & culture scene. On finishing University Alison went on to carve out a successful career in sales and business, developing a wealth of experience in connecting people, nurturing scalable business growth and development.
In 2019 Alison founded Manchester Fashion Movement. Manchester fashion movement is an activist movement that harnesses a creative network within the local region to promote pro environmental behaviour change in fashion. An activist movement that inspires new social initiatives, encouraging people in everyday conversations to understand how they can play their part in making more considered choices to support positive outcomes for people and the planet.
Using a multi-faceted approach, the movement focuses on the arts. Occupying and reimagining spaces within the city to engage the local community, in conversations around sustainability. Through a unique approach, combining installations, exhibitions, pop-up stores and fashion art performance. MFM has a unique vision around storytelling and its power to deepen engagement, using creative methods to evidence behaviour change.
Susan Postlethwaite is Professor of Fashion Technologies, Manchester Fashion Institute and Director of the Robotics Living Lab (RoLL). She is an alumna of the prestigious Policy Fellowship programme at the Royal Academy of Engineering and was co-investigator for AHRC funded Creative Clusters Future Fashion Factory: Digitally Enabled Design & Manufacture of Designer Products for Circular Economies. Susan is an industry expert for N+ Back to Baselines NERC Funded. Scientifically Validated Environmental and Design Baselines, Standards and Principals. She is also a member of AHRC Peer Review College and was a panel member for REF 2021. Panel D. Sub-panel 32.
Following a fashion design career working for Ralph Lauren and Georgio Armani Susan was Director of the Fashion Futures Masters Programme at London College of Fashion and Senior Research Fellow Fashion Programme at Royal College of Art where she won £3 million for the Burberry Material Futures Research Group. Her research interests include new robotic and cobotic technologies and automation in manufacturing, micro factories, reshoring of the UK fashion design/manufacturing sector which includes focusing on Industry 4.0+ and 5.0 economic theory, policy inclusion and circular economy agendas engaging with regional and central government. She has a long-term collaboration with the Manufacturing Technology Centre as part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.
Dr Talia Hussain is a design practitioner and researcher with over 20 years experience across fashion, culture, communications and digital technologies. Her research explores the role of retail and market-making practices in the garment industry, how they are implicated in labour and environmental abuse and how new retail models might produce different outcomes. Talia's transdisciplinary approach draws on concepts from political economy, operations management, critical philosophy, axiology, history, human geography, fashion and design theory. She is interested in practical and imaginative approaches to sustainable futures, and how our daily lives might be remade for the better.
Prior to returning to academia, Talia has consulted on numerous design projects and lead entrepreneurial ventures. She researched, designed and launched a fashion micro-brand based on the principles of Cradle to Cradle. She designed and lead product development of an innovative video-on-demand streaming service. As a volunteer, she has founded and launched a small charity focussed on community building and inclusion. She has worked with local government and policy-makers to effect positive change with emphasis on active travel and greening initiatives.
Gemma is a passionate Associate Architect with over 17 years in practice, during which time I have helped secure planning approval and the successful delivery of numerous residential, hotel, and office projects, including historic reuse and new-build schemes. Gemma has gained a strong knowledge of the principles and techniques governing historic fabric conservation, repair, and alteration through her work at Purcell. She believes that quality design is key at all scales and is particularly fascinated by the energy-conscious creative reuse of heritage assets to achieve a sustainable future. She is keen to create accessible spaces for all, paying special attention to those who face physical challenges and those with hidden disabilities. Gemma's current projects include repurposing Haigh Hall in Wigan as a multi-use cultural offering and several smaller projects within the wider woodland park. She is also working on refurbishing Cuerden Hall to return it to its original use as a private residence. Alongside her role as an associate for Purcell, Gemma is a Tutor in BA Architecture BA2 at Manchester School of Architecture, she studied both her BA Arch and BA Hons. Gemma won the Manchester Society of Architecture for One Off House Unbuilt Award 2021 for a property in the Conservation Area. This is a personal project for my family that we hope to start on-site at the end of the year.
Nick Johnson's background is 'regeneration'. At Urban Splash, working on some of the UK's the most daring and challenging regeneration projects, as a CABE Commissioner, as chair of Marketing Manchester and as a Visiting Professor of Architecture at Yale in the US. In 2011 disillusioned with all positions of perceived authority he resigned from everything and vowed not to attend meetings and never to sit on a committee or board again. He now curates young talent, running a company responsible for Altrincham Market, Mackie Mayor and The Picturedrome feeding 30,000 people weekly, attempting to effect transformational change in those places.
Dr. Graeme Heyes is the Director of Sustainable Innovation at Litmus Sustainability and the Founder of the Manchester Doughnut Economics community. He has over 15 years of expertise in helping organizations understand their sustainability challenges and think creatively about thriving in a low-carbon economy. His career is built on a portfolio of work with a diverse range of over 300 clients from the European Commission to major international clients, SMEs, and local community groups.
Formerly a Senior Lecturer in Strategic Sustainability and Systems Design, Graeme's multi-award-winning work includes the 2023 European SDG Initiative of the Year and the UK Net-Zero Business Collaboration of the Year 2023, and his sustainability training has been recognized by the UK Government as the "Gold Standard in Green Skills Training". His experience spans circular economy, eco-design, Doughnut Economics, Carbon Literacy, environmental management, carbon accounting, business model innovation, and strategic innovation. Graeme is deeply passionate about sustainability and sustainable practice and has written and spoken widely on these themes through a range of talks, lectures, keynotes, and writings.
Liz the Head of Design at Creative Concern, a Manchester based ethical communications agency. She has over 15 years of design experience, creating brands and campaigns that matter.
Her work spans charity rebrands, fundraising campaigns, character design and placemaking identities. Recent work includes a new brand for London's largest Children's Hospital, Young Barts Health, she also created the new placemaking identity for Scarborough, designed to unlock civic pride and generate investment. Recent work includes the renaming and design for charity brand We Stand, a new award winning website for sight loss charity SeeAbility and a campaign identity for Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.
Liz has established relationships with several Universities and Colleges and supports students through mentorships, guest lecturing, setting briefs and delivering feedback to help students obtain experience within a real life context. In addition Liz was asked, as an alumni, to design the identity for the 2024 Manchester School of Art graduate exhibit, which was then brought to life across the campus and beyond.
Liz is also an integral part of the team behind Creatives for Change, a design collective who champion using creativity as a force for good. Liz helped to curate their first solo event, The Mixer at the end of 2023 and is excited to get planning the next programme.
Erinch is the business and enterprise lead at Doughnut Economics Action Lab. His work focuses on transforming the deep design of businesses to enable them to pursue regenerative and distributive strategies. Working with 22 partner organisations and over 300 businesses, he has lead DEAL's work to create the Doughnut Design for Business tool, which enables businesses to engage with the concepts of Doughnut Economics.
Erinch has been in leadership roles across business, NGOs and government. He was the chief executive of the World Fair Trade Organization, the global network and verifier of social enterprises who fully practise Fair Trade. He has also spent 7 years at Oxfam working in campaigns and programmes, including in creating and leading the Behind the Brands scorecard. Erinch has also worked at Procter & Gamble as a market strategy manager, established a furniture business and worked for Australia's aid programme in Indonesia.
Erinch is a board member of the Social Enterprise World Forum, a fellow at the Post Growth Institute and a senior associate at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. He holds degrees in finance and law, a masters in international law and an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes University.
Abb-d Taiyo is co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at digital agency and B Corp, Driftime - a mission-driven creative partner, helping progressive brands, established companies and sustainable initiatives, achieve long term impact through design and digital empowerment. Driftime position themselves as the guide to their clients hero, helping them achieve long term success through creative strategy, brand, storytelling, digital design and development.
Driftime have been fortunate to work with an impressive ensemble of people in the impact space. From a long-term partnership delivering digital solutions for ocean conservationists Only One, sparking global conversations around healthier oceans with meaningful, accessible ways to take action, and inspiring and empowering change, through to global efforts with The Quad Investors Network, launched at the G7 summit in Japan and announced at The White House, implementing infrastructure and innovation through AI, quantum computing, clean energy and more.
Alongside Driftime, Abb-d is invested in change beyond the design industry by co-founding and co-steering Design Declares, a progressive movement bringing together designers, design studios, agencies and institutions to declare a climate and ecological emergency.
An award-winning sustainable entrepreneur combining vision, theory & practice, Bernice set her mission to problem-solve the systemic issues of over-consumption using design thinking & creative innovation. She gained her PhD in Fashion Systems Engineering & Design Management, after architectural degrees at University of Cambridge & Royal College of Art, and a fashion career in New York & London.
Bernice founded pioneering sustainable fashion brand DEPLOY in 2006 as a strategic action plan to reform fashion. Its novel 360 Sustainability model of customised product-service-experience, zero-waste supply chain, on-demand production, creative upcycling, agile retail operation, bespoke after-sale service & education-humanitarian partnerships increases benefit for people whilst reducing damage for the planet. Named a ‘Great British Brand’ of the 21 Century & winner of the Marie Claire Sustainability Award for ‘Ethical Fashion Brand of the Year’, DEPLOY certified as one of the world’s highest scoring B-Corps; contributing towards 12 of 17 UN SDGs. DEPLOY is widely featured in the media including BBC & Vogue. Her speaking engagements span from The UN, Institute of Directors & Women on Boards to Harvard Business Schools & Stanford School of Sustainability. She is a contributing author to several books incl. Accelerating Sustainability in Fashion, Clothing & Textiles which she co-edited.
Efia is the Founder & CEO of BlackOwned Studios + Marketplace - a community-based enterprise with the focus of increasing the visibility of Manchester's Black beauty scene.
The first space of its kind in the UK, BlackOwned Studios + Marketplace provides a radical alternative for the Black community currently underrepresented in today's beauty industry. Providing flexible co-working studios for Afro hairstylists and beauticians, a marketplace exclusively featuring Black-owned beauty products, as well as an event space for the local community.
For the past 3 years, Efia headed the growth of the online brand BlackOwned MCR prior to launching the Studios, with the ultimate aim to provide more safe spaces to celebrate the diversity that is Black beauty culture. Since launching BlackOwned Studios + Marketplace, she has collaborated with several major players in the beauty industry across events, workshops and activations, and has been featured in Black Business Magazine's 'Women of Influence' Anniversary Edition.
Efia holds a BSc in Biochemistry, utilising her research skills from her degree to this day. Outside of work, Efia enjoys spending time with her family, friends and cockapoo Oscar. As well as trying to see as much of the world as possible.
Over the past 12 years, Lisa has worked with range of brands from a variety of sectors including Walt Disney World, Skyscanner, CBBC, Citizen's Theatre and the Rugby World Cup. 7 years ago. she co-founded ilka; Scotland's first branding studio to certify as a B Corporation. More than a design agency, investing in ilka is investing in good. ilka design meaningful brands that positively impact people and the planet, all whilst meeting the highest criteria of social and environmental performance.
Being the strategic director of a sustainable branding studio ilka means that Lisa wears many hats. With a keen understanding of market trends and consumer behaviour, Lisa guides clients through the complex landscape of strategic branding, helping them navigate challenges and seize opportunities to authentically connect. Her ability to clarify the complex and communicate it creatively gives personality, purpose and power to your story. A curious mindset is what unites her varied skillset, always using design thinking as a positive tool for change.
Nilesha is Managing Director of GOOD, a Purpose-driven strategy and creative agency and the UK's highest-rated B-Corp. She is a Global Integrated Marketing & Communications expert with almost 30 years of experience. At GOOD she is a senior consultant to charity, not-for-profit, and commercial clients in social and environmental impact.
Nilesha is also a fiction writer. Her debut novel, The Revenge of Rita Marsh, was published by Faber in July as its crime thriller superlead title in 2024.
Pete Swift is a Landscape and Urban Designer, passionate about place, planet, and people. He is Managing Director of Planit - an interdisciplinary, creative studio, with a mission to design for all life to thrive in balance. As a founder of the UK's first built environment B Corp, he is now focused on leading the business through the succession phase and on to becoming Net-Positive.
Pete and his team take an integrated approach to urban futures - pioneering the way forward for sustainability in our projects, collaborating on all scales, from city region, to towns, spaces, and objects.
He has driven the establishment of Planit's Regenerative Practice programme and network through their 'Land-Lab' in Gloucestershire. Pete is leading on a handful of mission-making projects throughout the UK - with a specific focus on place changing policies, framework planning and 'good growth' - that move beyond sustainable to net-positive and beyond into regenerative practices.
Pete was a founding member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Built Environment Board and is Chair of the PLANT CIC in Manchester, the UK's biggest urban gardening volunteer-led project.
Richard has over thirty years of industry experience in design strategy and innovation to commercialize products and services. His knowledge spans a comprehensive range of design methodologies, from early-stage human-centered design to design for manufacturing. His skills and knowledge within design and manufacturing are founded on an Engineering Apprenticeship at Rolls Royce Aero and extensive experience working for a range of industries across Europe, Asia, and the US. In 2005, he founded the design innovation and sustainability agency Pd-m International, working with organizations from high-growth start-ups to multinationals in health technologies, life science, medical devices, automotive, consumer, nursery, and industrial industries.
Richard is passionate about design strategy and navigating the complexities of regulatory, intellectual property, manufacturing, and commercialization to successfully deliver product and service solutions. He has many years of experience understanding and addressing the challenges of achieving Net Zero through circular economy, life cycle analysis, and sustainability. In addition to leading the agency, Richard regularly conducts talks about design innovation and sustainability at the Royal College of Art, NHS, Hong Kong Design Institute, and other universities in the UK. Richard holds a degree in Product Design, an MSc in Leadership, is a Fellow of the RSA, a Chartered Manager with CMI, and consults for the government body UKRI.
Simeon Rose, Creative Director at Faith In Nature and Co-creator of Nature on the Board
With a background in advertising, Simeon joined Faith In Nature in 2017 and has spent his time since reimagining what it means to be a green company in today's world.
In 2022, Faith In Nature became the first company in the world to make Nature a director - giving the natural world a voice and a vote in all of its decision making.
The entire process has been open sourced on Faith In Nature's site so that other companies can do the same and he continues to share learnings from the idea on natureontheboard.com
Sophie is a long-time vocal leader in design and circular economy design principles. She has been working in the fields of sustainable and ethical design, behaviour change and material process through, Thomas.Matthews for over 25 years, and as Director of Circular Design for Useful Simple Projects. She is now Senior Director of the Useful Simple Trust.
She has led several environmental organisations and is a founder of the URGE Collective . In 2012, she established and set up The Great Recovery project, supported by Innovate UK and the RSA. She took over 1000 designers to waste sites to see where their products die, and to rethink design using circular principles, workshops, events, and discussions with people from across the whole supply networks. Since then, Sophie has worked with industry to look at how everything - from oil rigs, sofas, shoes, and mobile phones - can be designed for reuse and recovery.
She now works closely with businesses to radically reconsider material use through design, research, and innovation, and in 2022 co-founded the climate-tech venture studio, etsaW, building innovation in the transformation of waste streams into new materials and growing new businesses that work in the circular economy. Over this time, Sophie has worked across multiple industries. She is an example of a multi-sector generalist specialist - being a practicing designer that is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Waste Management and a board member of WRAP.
Sophie Benson is a freelance journalist and author working with a focus on sustainable fashion. She covers a host of topics including legislation and policy, greenwashing, circularity, labour, consumer behaviour, and fashion innovation. Publications Sophie writes for include Vogue, The Guardian, Dazed, Atmos, The Independent, Raconteur, Vogue Business, and AnOther. Her book, Sustainable Wardrobe, was published in September 2023. It tackles topics including the lifecycle of a t-shirt, the facts and fiction of sustainable fashion, waste colonialism, the history of consumerism, the sharing economy, and collective action. Sophie also speaks on the topic of sustainability for oulets such as BBC News, Times Radio, BBC World Service, and BBC 5 Live. In her spare time she teaching sewing classes, upcycles clothes, crochets, and is - very slowly - insulating and renovating her 1960s townhouse.
Dr Tayo Adebowale, is a Sustainability Strategist. She started her consultancy Cirkadia, in 2003. Cirkadia's strapline is: 'Working Towards a Sustainable Future'. Her portfolio spans over 35 years. and includes: design, environmental science, water management, flood alleviation, strategy, policy and training. She is a Chartered Environmentalist, Chartered Water and Environmental Manager, Member of the Institute of Leadership and Management, has a Doctorate in Water Management, and completed the Design Council Regenerative Design Fellowship. Tayo has served as a GB Forestry Commissioner, a Non-Executive Director of the Countryside Agency (now Natural England), as Environment Agency Sustainable Economics Lead on the North West Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, and as a Design Council Expert and High Street Task Force Expert. Current roles include: Design Council Ambassador, NW Forestry and Woodlands Advisory Committee Member, and Vice Chair of one of the first Primary School Federation's.
Karlijn Sibbel is a Design Director at Notpla, where Karlijn focuses on material and product development of sustainable packaging made from seaweed. Karlijn also serves as a Designer in Residence at Luma Arles and runs their own studio as a Materials Design Engineer. With a background in product design and a Master's degree in Innovation Design Engineering, Karlijn has a strong educational foundation to support their diverse design career.
Andy Burnham was first elected as Mayor of Greater Manchester in May 2017, re-elected for a second term in May 2021 and a third term in May 2024. Responsible for shaping the future of Greater Manchester, Andy’s priorities for his third term include continuing to build a London-style integrated transport system, ending the housing crisis by 2038, offering a new technical education pathway as an alternative to university and creating a new Live Well service, making Greater Manchester a great place to grow up, get on, and grow old. Andy is committed to making Greater Manchester one of the best places in the world to start, scale and grow a business, where people working in the city region have good jobs and are paid the Real Living Wage. Greater Manchester has a thriving business ecosystem and business leadership. Growing our economy is a Mayoral priority and the investments made are showing results, with Greater Manchester’s productivity growing faster than the UK average in recent years. Before being elected Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy was MP for Leigh from 2001. In government, Andy has held Ministerial positions at the Home Office, Department of Health and the Treasury. In 2008 he became Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, before returning to Health as Secretary of State in 2009. In opposition, Andy has served as Shadow Education Secretary, Shadow Health Secretary and Shadow Home Secretary. Andy lives in Leigh, Greater Manchester, with his wife and three children.
Kyle Soo is the Partnerships & Product Manager at B Lab UK, the charity helping raise awareness of the B Corp movement nationwide. A criminal lawyer for almost ten years, Kyle shifted his focus to business as a force for good with a particular focus on combining design, facilitation and storytelling to create networks and communities in service of people and the planet. He is also a Lego Serious Play Facilitator and runs the popular PechaKucha Nights in his home city of Manchester.
Jonathan Irawan holds the role of Computational Design Lead at Hassell Studio, where he stands at the vanguard of innovation, technology, and sustainability. He continually explores and experiments with cutting-edge tools and workflows, aiming to shape a future where design and project delivery in the built environment are characterized by optimism, inclusivity, and boundless creativity. With an extensive background encompassing diverse projects spanning Asia, Australia, America, and the UK, Jonathan brings a wealth of experience to his work. His design approach is grounded in evidence-based and data-driven processes, seamlessly merging academic insights with practical industry applications. In his current capacity, Jonathan spearheads a series of pioneering projects that serve as lighthouse projects that challenge existing conventions to accelerate sustainable and regenerative design practices. These endeavors exemplify his dedication to pushing the boundaries of what's possible within his design practice, showcasing a deep-rooted commitment to creating a more environmentally and socially equitable built environment. Jonathan's dedication extends beyond the studio walls; he actively champions climate activism. As an engaged coordinator of ACAN (Architecture Climate Action Network), he plays an instrumental role in driving tangible change and advocating for a more sustainable future within the construction industry.
Tanya Popeau is the Director of Synthesis, an award-winning agency. Her expertise lies in innovation and sustainability. She has worked with the world’s leading corporates, non-profits, government agencies, and academic institutions to design breakthrough innovations to global challenges. Her clients have included Unilever, the United Nations, HSBC, Amazon, the Jimmy Choo Academy, and the UK government. She has worked across the globe in Africa, Asia, the US, and the UK.
In 2023, Synthesis won ‘Best International Sustainability Consultancy’ in the Greater London Enterprise Awards. The agency also won ‘Sustainability Consultancy of the Year 2024’ in the Corporate Livewire Innovation & Excellence Awards. Tanya’s projects have covered a range of sustainability issues, including urban poverty, energy efficiency, social cohesion, sustainable development, and education. She was a consultant and advisor to the United Nations. She worked for the UN’s largest agency and was at the forefront of their shift to a strategic focus on innovation. She implemented this new approach across 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific, overseeing the development of the first-ever innovation fund in the region. She was the lead consultant on the fund, which generated projects that tackled challenges from natural disasters to women’s economic empowerment.
This year’s theme is design for Planet Positive Business. Showing that design can help businesses prosper whilst also regenerating the planet.
This does not mean selling the same things made of recycled materials or creating shiny new green products - it means a fundamental redesign of what businesses are for, putting the planet at the heart of their purpose and giving Mother Nature a seat at the table. Businesses can prosper, but prosperity, and consumption, might look a little different in the future.
Tune in to the festival sessions to discover how:
10:00 Martyn Evans Minnie Moll Kyle SooThe Design Council, in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University's School of Art, proudly opens the fourth Design for Planet Festival, showcasing how design can drive businesses to reach their net zero goals, and do so profitably.
10:15 Andy BurnhamTo kick us off, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, shares how the city region has reimagined its places to bring nature to the heart of urban life, designed a new transport infrastructure to connect people, and invested in green innovation for both business and the community.
November 6, 2024 10:30 Patrick GrantCelebrated clothing designer, broadcaster and presenter of the BBC's The Great British Sewing Bee, will share his journey to creating his brand, Community Clothing.
Based in Blackburn, Community Clothing is disrupting the fashion industry by changing how garments are designed and marketed. Through rethinking the systemic narrative, considering the full lifecycle of a product.
Community Clothing is making buying better, competitive amongst the fast-fashion juggernauts. Hear Patrick talk about how Community Clothing produces clothes that are good for the planet and for the people who make them.
11:10
Tanya Popeau
Get ready to be inspired as Tanya Popeau, Director at Synthesis, takes the stage to reveal how innovation and design can drive the future of sustainability! Drawing on her own powerful examples from Global Development and Big Corporates, Tanya will reveal how businesses can develop their revenue generating models while making a powerful impact on the world. Gain insights into embedding sustainable practices, tackling climate risks head-on, and championing social inclusion. This talk will dive into dynamic innovation techniques to fuel your ability to design agile and give you impactful solutions for today’s most pressing challenge - the global social and environmental impact.
November 6, 2024 11:30 Karlijn SibbelExclusive premiere of our newest film in the Life in Design series. This film will feature Karlijn Sibbel, Design Director at Notpla - a sustainable packaging start-up. Ooho and their other packaging solutions are made from Notpla, a revolutionary material made from seaweed and plants that biodegrades in weeks, naturally.
November 6, 2024 11:45 James Vaccaro Katie Hill Martyn EvansGet ready for a high-stakes debate on one of the most pressing issues in sustainable design: can businesses truly prosper while achieving environmental sustainability?
Join Martyn Evans, Creative Director at U+I, Katie Hill, Co-chair of B Lab Global, and James Vaccaro, founder of Re-pattern and Chief Catalyst for the Climate Safe Lending Network, as they tackle this complex question.
November 6, 2024 12:30Experience one-on-one matchmaking in a dynamic networking environment where sustainability meets design innovation. These short personalised sessions pair professionals, experts, and enthusiasts to exchange ideas and spark collaborations.Whether you're a seasoned expert or just starting out, this is your opportunity to make meaningful connections, gain fresh insights, and take action toward a sustainable future.
November 6, 2024 13:30 Alison Carlin Susan Postlethwaite Talia Hussain Sophie BensonTrace Manchester’s evolution from textile titan to fast-fashion hub and the power it has to lead the industry towards a planet positive system.
Hear from industry leaders as they unravel innovative strategies for incorporating circularity through materials, supply chains, and business models to redefine fashion’s future and drive positive change.
November 6, 2024 14:30 Gemma Birchall Nick Johnson Dr Tayo Adebowale Jonathan IrawanThis session is delivered in partnership with Purcell Architects.
Manchester may be increasingly well known for its rising skyline, but closer to ground level, there is a diversity of heritage and civic buildings, brownfield sites and old factories being repurposed to create housing, work and leisure spaces, not only re-using materials, but also regenerating biodiversity.
Repurposing and retrofitting need to become the norm, creating additional homes and places within our carbon limits. We need to embrace it as a radical practice that can be commercially profitable for developers and cost effective for homeowners and renters.
Hosted by Jonathan Irawan, Design Council Expert and Computational Design Lead at Hassell Studio with experts in architectural retrofit, Gemma Birchall of Purcell Architects; Nick Johnson, Altrincham Market and Tayo Adebowale, Cirkadia.
November 6, 2024 15:15 Graeme HeyesEquip yourself with the fundamental elements of climate science to address environmental issues in your designs.
Gain knowledge and implement effective strategies that design businesses, both individually and collectively, can adopt to significantly reduce their carbon footprint.
November 6, 2024 15:15 Liz NewellDesign is a powerful tool for shaping behaviours, so could it help us shape good green behaviour?
Hear from experts, the design strategies that have been effective and the challenges they've encountered in driving sustainable internal practices for businesses to implement design solutions that drive positive change in your organisation.
November 6, 2024 15:15 Erinch SahanInspired by the innovative Doughnut Economics framework, explore how you can transform your business model to place the planet at the heart of your work.
Join Erinch Sahan, Doughnut Economics Action Lab, for a step by step journey on adapting your approach to business for greater sustainability, leveraging their model to drive meaningful change within your organisation.
November 6, 2024 15:15 Abb-d TaiyoDigital designers, as the largest and fastest-growing group of designers in the UK, have a unique opportunity to influence change. Creating compelling graphics and striking visuals can capture attention and drive awareness for key climate issues and solutions.
Explore digital storytelling techniques and clever design strategies to make your messages resonate and inspire action, whilst implementing eco-friendly principles into your process.
November 6, 2024 15:30 Bernice Pan Efia Mainoo Lisa Henderson Nilesha Chauvet Pete Swift Richard Hall Simeon RosePrepare yourselves for an intellectual showdown.
In one corner, we have the 'Product' Team, ready to throw down their expertise in leveraging design to tackle immediate business needs while championing sustainability. They’ll be pushing strategies, such as lightweighting products, making sustainable options irresistible, and crafting designs for disassembly and circularity.
And in the opposite corner, the 'Business Model' Team stands poised to challenge the status quo with their bold vision. They’re set to demonstrate how design can revolutionise business practices by embedding nature into corporate strategies, open-sourcing tools for enhanced collaboration, investing in equity, and instigating cultural shifts within organisations.
Which approach will lead the way forward in proving that design can drive profits and achieve net-zero objectives?
November 6, 2024 16:30 Sophie ThomasWhat new skills do we need for circular design? Not only to create the products themselves but also the surrounding services and business models. How can we transform traditional linear approaches into groundbreaking, regenerative practices that drive a sustainable future?
Sophie Thomas, Founder of Thomas.Matthews and etsaW Venture Studio, will be joined by Dr. Adam Read of SUEZ, to delve into why embracing circular design skills is not just environmentally crucial but also economically advantageous.
November 6, 2024 17:00 Minnie MollMinnie Moll, Chief Executive of the Design Council, will summarise the key learnings from the day with a heartfelt thank you to all our speakers and attendees for a remarkable day.
We’ve explored how design can drive sustainability, from debating product versus business model approaches to understanding the shift from linear to regenerative practices. Today’s discussions reinforced the role of design in both business success and environmental stewardship.
Let’s carry these lessons forward as we work towards a more sustainable future.
November 6, 2024 10:00 Martyn Evans Minnie Moll Andy BurnhamThe Design Council, in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University's School of Art, proudly opens the 4th Design for Planet Festival, showcasing how design can drive businesses to reach their net zero goals, and do so profitably. To kick us off, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, shares how the city region has reimagined its places to bring nature to the heart of urban life, designed a new transport infrastructure to connect people, and invested in green innovation for both business and the community.
November 6, 2024 10:15 Patrick GrantCelebrated clothing designer, broadcaster and presenter of the BBC's The Great British Sewing Bee, will share his journey to creating his brand, Community Clothing.
Based in Blackburn, Community Clothing is disrupting the fashion industry by changing how garments are designed and marketed. Through rethinking the systemic narrative, considering the full lifecycle of a product.
Community Clothing is making buying better, competitive amongst the fast-fashion juggernauts. Hear Patrick talk about how Community Clothing produces clothes that are good for the planet and for the people who make them.
November 6, 2024 16:30 Sophie ThomasWhat new skills do we need for circular design? Not only to create the products themselves but also the surrounding services and business models. How can we transform traditional linear approaches into groundbreaking, regenerative practices that drive a sustainable future?
Sophie Thomas, Founder of Thomas.Matthews and etsaW Venture Studio, will be joined by Dr. Adam Read of SUEZ, to delve into why embracing circular design skills is not just environmentally crucial but also economically advantageous.
November 6, 2024 17:00 Minnie MollMinnie Moll, Chief Executive of the Design Council, will summarise the key learnings from the day with a heartfelt thank you to all our speakers and attendees for a remarkable day.
We’ve explored how design can drive sustainability, from debating product versus business model approaches to understanding the shift from linear to regenerative practices. Today’s discussions reinforced the role of design in both business success and environmental stewardship.
Let’s carry these lessons forward as we work towards a more sustainable future.
November 6, 2024 11:45 James Vaccaro Katie Hill Martyn EvansGet ready for a high-stakes debate on one of the most pressing issues in sustainable design: can businesses truly prosper while achieving environmental sustainability?
Join Martyn Evans, Creative Director at U+I, Katie Hill, Co-chair of B Lab Global, and James Vaccaro, advisor at Triodos Bank and founder of Re-pattern as they tackle this complex question.
November 6, 2024 15:30 Bernice Pan Efia Mainoo Lisa Henderson Nilesha Chauvet Pete Swift Richard Hall Simeon RosePrepare yourselves for an intellectual showdown.
In one corner, we have the 'Product' Team, ready to throw down their expertise in leveraging design to tackle immediate business needs while championing sustainability. They’ll be pushing strategies, such as lightweighting products, making sustainable options irresistible, and crafting designs for disassembly and circularity.
And in the opposite corner, the 'Business Model' Team stands poised to challenge the status quo with their bold vision. They’re set to demonstrate how design can revolutionise business practices by embedding nature into corporate strategies, open-sourcing tools for enhanced collaboration, investing in equity, and instigating cultural shifts within organisations.
Which approach will lead the way forward in proving that design can drive profits and achieve net-zero objectives?
November 6, 2024 13:30 Alison Carlin Susan Postlethwaite Talia Hussain Sophie BensonTrace Manchester’s evolution from textile titan to fast-fashion hub and the power it has to lead the industry towards a planet positive system.
Hear from industry leaders as they unravel innovative strategies for incorporating circularity through materials, supply chains, and business models to redefine fashion’s future and drive positive change.
November 6, 2024 14:30 Gemma Birchall Nick Johnson Dr Tayo AdebowaleThis session is delivered in partnership with Purcell Architects.
Manchester may be increasingly well known for its rising skyline, but closer to ground level, there is a diversity of heritage and civic buildings, brownfield sites and old factories being repurposed to create housing, work and leisure spaces, not only re-using materials, but also regenerating biodiversity.
Repurposing and retrofitting need to become the norm, creating additional homes and places within our carbon limits. We need to embrace it as a radical practice that can be commercially profitable for developers and cost effective for homeowners and renters.
Hosted by Phin Harper, Design Council Expert and Guardian columnist, with experts in architectural retrofit, Gemma Birchall of Purcell Architects; Nick Johnson, Altrincham Market and Tayo Adebowale, Cirkadia.
November 6, 2024 13:30 Patrick GrantThis experiential workshop will give designers the tools needed to embed regenerative and systemic practices with their clients, in turn enabling the design of products, services and places that generate environmental and social, as well as economic, value.
Our Systemic Design Framework is our overarching methodology for Design for Planet, used to bring together designers and non-designers from different backgrounds. The Systemic Design Toolkit is a set of 11 tools that helps put this framework into practice. This workshop – led by our Design Council Expert, Nat Hunter – will be a hands-on introduction to systemic design and how to apply it. Through mapping a live system, we will unpack the wider impact of our products, services and places, sharing a few ways of exploring this with clients as we go. No prior experience in systemic design is needed.
November 6, 2024 13:30 Kyle SooThis workshop will offer designers tips and examples of how to convince leadership of the value of design. This should be led by a few of our DCE's, who give tangible varied examples of how they have achieved this.
It should be focused at designers - helping them to 'speak business' when pitching their designs, so that non-designers can clearly understand. See examples of language changes below.
November 6, 2024 13:30 Pete SwiftThis workshop demonstrates different models of leadership through a series of lightning presentations from various design leaders, followed by interactive dicussions with leaders to dig into how they have developed their approach to be an advocate for change within their field.
November 6, 2024 15:15 Graeme HeyesEquip yourself with the fundamental elements of climate science to address environmental issues in your designs.
Gain knowledge and implement effective strategies that design businesses, both individually and collectively, can adopt to significantly reduce their carbon footprint.
November 6, 2024 15:15 Liz NewellDesign is a powerful tool for shaping behaviours, so could it help us shape good green behaviour?
Hear from experts, the design strategies that have been effective and the challenges they've encountered in driving sustainable internal practices for businesses to implement design solutions that drive positive change in your organisation.
November 6, 2024 15:15 Erinch SahanInspired by the innovative Doughnut Economics framework, explore how you can transform your business model to place the planet at the heart of your work.
Join Erinch Sahan, Doughnut Economics Action Lab, for a step by step journey on adapting your approach to business for greater sustainability, leveraging their model to drive meaningful change within your organisation.
November 6, 2024 15:15 Abb-d TaiyoDigital designers, as the largest and fastest-growing group of designers in the UK, have a unique opportunity to influence change. Creating compelling graphics and striking visuals can capture attention and drive awareness for key climate issues and solutions.
Explore digital storytelling techniques and clever design strategies to make your messages resonate and inspire action, whilst implementing eco-friendly principles into your process.
November 6, 2024 11:30 Karlijn SibbelExclusive premiere of our newest film in the Life in Design series. This film will feature Karlijn Sibbel, Design Director at Notpla - a sustainable packaging start-up. Ooho and their other packaging solutions are made from Notpla, a revolutionary material made from seaweed and plants that biodegrades in weeks, naturally.
November 6, 2024 12:30Experience one-on-one matchmaking in a dynamic networking environment where sustainability meets design innovation. These short personalised sessions pair professionals, experts, and enthusiasts to exchange ideas and spark collaborations.Whether you're a seasoned expert or just starting out, this is your opportunity to make meaningful connections, gain fresh insights, and take action toward a sustainable future.
The Design Council is the UK’s national strategic advisor for design, championing design and its ability to make life better for all. It is an independent and not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal Charter. The Design Council uniquely works across all design sectors and delivers programmes with business, government, public bodies and the third sector. Their work encompasses thought leadership, tools and resources, showcasing excellence, and research to evidence the value of design and influence policy. Their Design for Planet mission was introduced in 2021 to galvanise and support the 1.97 million people who work in the UK’s design economy to help achieve net zero and beyond. In September 2025 the Design Council will host the prestigious World Design Congress as a catalytic moment in driving the sector towards designing for planet.
The Design Council's mission is to Design for Planet, to design our way to a net zero world and beyond.
The Design for Planet Festival is our flagship annual event helping to drive this mission. It aims to bring together designers, businesses, and policy makers to connect, inspire and help make this year's theme of Planet Positive Business a reality.
By attending the festival, we aim to increase your understanding and capabilities in how to practically design for planet.
Design for Planet Festival is completely FREE!
Anyone can attend Design for Planet Festival. We welcome virtual attendees from all sectors (not just design-specific) and from all around the world.
The list of delegates who attend in person have been invited by the Design Council as a selection of cross-industry experts and, of course, our speakers.
We are looking for inspiring case studies of Design for Planet in action, particularly examples of where design has helped businesses to proser and look after the planet.
If you have a great story to tell, or want to get in touch about being involved in future festivals, you can email the team: festival@designcouncil.org.uk
All sessions will be available on the registration platform for one month after exclusively for those who registered. Please allow for a few days after the festival as we upload the content.
Please help us to drive our Design for Planet mission. Tell your friends and colleagues about our mission and resources and use your platforms to amplify the message. You can tag us at @Designcouncil.
In September 2025 we will be hosting the prestigious World Design Congress at the Barbican Centre. You can read more here about how to support us in making this a catalytic moment for design.
The prestigious World Design Congress is coming to London for the first time in over 50 years. The 34th edition will be hosted by the Design Council at the Barbican Centre, recognised worldwide for its iconic brutalist architecture and commitment to sustainable design.
The World Design Organization's two-day event takes place every two years, gathering together the international design community and thought leaders from business, research and education to discuss and debate design issues of global importance.
Our theme for 2025 will be Design for Planet. The effects of climate change are more evident than ever and design has a crucial role to play to help reduce carbon emissions and increase biodiversity. This is a moment to convene and accelerate design's power in building a regenerative future for all.
We'll be releasing exciting information in the run up, including how you can get your hands on tickets, so sign up for our World Design Congress newsletter to be first to know.
Tickets will be available to purchase online in early 2025. We will also be giving Design for Planet Festival attendees an early access opportunity.
We have a once in a generation opportunity to showcase the best of UK design and innovation, and critically, our leadership in harnessing design to address the climate and nature crisis.
This is a momentous opportunity to add your voice to a prestigious, high-profile event and demonstrate your commitment to designing a sustainable future.
