Peter Stebbing
2 The paradigm shift in design
2.11 The speed of the paradigm shift and its brakes
Finally, we must realize that the two design paradigms, the old and the new, currently co-exist and the com- plete transition to the new paradigm is not going to be fast due to reasons motivated by personal gain in di- verse forms. This is a battle that the we and grass roots has with politicians (and also CEOs of many large cor- porations) who demand economic growth on the one hand and are ineffective in dealing with climate change and sustainability on the other. In the UK the “Green
Party leader Natalie Bennett blamed the Government for the increase in climate change doubters. She said: “When the government is so clearly failing to act on climate change, or take seriously its obligations under the Climate Change Act, it’s not surprising that the level of doubt about climate change has risen. “Of course, however, the 72 per cent of the public who acknowledge the climate is chang- ing are backed overwhelmingly by the scientific evidence”
2.11 Conclusion
recognized that climate change is not a scientific hoax! (Anon, 2015). In addition politicians frequently follow contradictory strategies depending on the power of conflicting corporate lobbies. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel who apparently supports renewable en- ergy contradicts her own policies by blocking EU legis- lation to lower the limits on emissions for luxury cars in order to protect the German car industry. In addition the German Government substantially subsidizes its fossil fuel industries as do Russia, the USA, the UK, and Australia. The transition to the new paradigm will be a slow process with continuing support for old paradigm economic growth, profits, together with political inef- fectiveness, and contradictions.
Business and industry is similarly inconsistent. At worst this includes the lobbying by very rich business moguls and others (e.g. Koch Brothers, ExxonMobil etc.) spending billions of dollars promoting the count- er-climate-change-movement already mentioned (Brul- le, 2013). The result of their deceitful activities has de- layed action to reduce emissions by a critical decade (Monbiot, 2006). Meanwhile, CEOs with short term per- spectives continue to pursue maximum profit margins working within the old paradigm. The trillions of dollars of the collective profits of many of the larger compa- nies is achieved simply by environmental destruction (TRUCOST, 2013). However, a range of industries claim to be green (greenwash) whilst others actually are be- cause they have recognized the market value of being honestly green. On the smaller scale the institutional adoption of sustainable management strategies is slow due to the extra work to integrate a sustainable admin- istration based on the new knowledge base (the new paradigm). This is well illustrated in education where some universities and design schools have adopted a sustainable administration according to international standards e.g. the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) while other institutions only manage to recycle paper. These are some of the forces working against sustainability and slowing down the transition to the new design paradigm.
2.11 Conclusion
The rest of us who are concerned to care for the Earth and create a beautiful green tomorrow should not be downhearted. Despite the power and duplicity of many
politicians and greedy capitalists there is an enormous counter power at the grass roots around the world. It is a growing consciousness and making enormous social progress despite not commanding the news headlines as often as politicians and CEOs. Change is being creat- ed by the massive repetition of small acts carried out by many individuals, small and medium sized groups and even some large ones. So here are some examples of a few the stakeholders, many not so prominent, creating the shift towards the new sustainable paradigm:
›
› Architects of change ›
› Tree people (http://www.treepeople.org/) ›
› Tree Guardians (http://treeguardians.org/) ›
› Unions of concerned scientists (www.ucsusa.
org/)
›
› Greenpeace
›
› Business for social responsibility ›
› Bumblebee Conservation Trust ›
› Bioneers
›
› Water Footprint Network ›
› Rocky Mountain Institute ›
› Friends of the Earth ›
› World Wildlife Fund ›
› World Watch Institute ›
› etc.
At the individual level we must all recognize the challenge to change our own behaviours to complete the paradigm shift.
Unfortunately, “The designer is not in practice al- lowed so much freedom to question the wider pattern of reasoning behind the decision to manufacture a par- ticular product …” or design (Baynes, 1967). Ultimately, the designer will be confronted with choosing between:
1. trying to persuade the client of the advantag- es of producing a sustainable design, for both the benefit of the consumers, the company image and the environment.
2. should the company remain unconvinced in creating a sustainable design then the design- er could accept the commission against her own better knowledge and ethical conscience. 3. or she could turn down the commission on
ethical and unsustainable grounds.
The last option is not an easy choice for the free- lance designer, however, the better informed we are about planet’s situation then the more likely we are to be successful in the first option.
2.13 References and further reading
2.13 References and further reading
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2.13 References and further reading
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3.2 We must design sustainably