Held over the course of several months from 2021 to 2022, WDO’s Sustainable Design Series was a membership engagement initiative that sought to foster discussions and collaboration amongst WDO’s global community of members under the banner of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With the support of key leaders from WDO’s community, including Community Liaison Rohit Lalwani (India), WDO curated three online sessions that welcomed both WDO Members and relevant stakeholders – from design professors to students.

Session 1: What is a sustainable mindset?

Hosted by WDO Member Besign, The Sustainable Design School (France), this interactive session presented key learnings and experiences around the importance of frugal innovation and adopting a systematic approach towards design.

Session 2: Transformation in design requires a transformation in design?

Hosted by Digital Society School (Amsterdam), this session focused on building awareness about the impact of design and design education on the environment and sustainability and the impact of the SDGs on curriculum, pedagogy and project learning.

Session 3: Defuturing to refuturing – The Designer’s Dilemma

Hosted by WDO Member Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology (India), the final session of the series explored the system’s view of sustainability supported by a few design models and online exercises. This session was divided into three parts: business and sustainability, the systems view of sustainability and shifts in the ecosystem.