While we have all been busy figuring out the endless stream of ’new normals’ brought about by COVID, the climate emergency has not gone away. Indeed, recent circumstances have brought some issues into even sharper relief: the desire for economic recovery to be tied to strong green priorities seems to be ever widely held. As an industry, the need to take action and reduce our carbon footprint is more urgent and more immediate than ever. We need to work towards sustainability by creating and consuming less; our businesses need to understand the full scope of their environmental impacts; and we need to ensure that products make better use of fewer resources. This event explored how ‘green thinking’ can be applied to wayfinding design and manufacturing processes and the lifecycle of products. Erik Sørensen Ruiz (Modulex) provided insights into the company’s approach. Adele Orcajada (MaterialDriven) talked about ‘future proofing’ and the types of materials and innovation that can provide the toolkit for better and more environmentally sustainable architecture, urban environments, wayfinding, and smarter products. Nick Hughes (UCL) introduced two important framing concepts, ‘the circular economy’ and resource management hierarchy, for understanding resource efficiency.
About our speakers
Nick Hughes is Researcher at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources. He has a PhD in energy policy from Imperial College London. His areas of interest are low carbon energy and sustainable resource use, implications for society and policy solutions. He has engaged with topics including renewable energy innovation policy, electricity networks, land use and resource governance, resource efficiency and circular economy policies. He is also interested in longer-term future trajectories of sustainable transitions, considering political as well as social and technological dynamics.
Erik Sørensen Ruiz works as an Environmental and Marketing Consultant for Modulex Billund, with a remit to promote and reinforce the company’s environmental profile. He is currently in the final year of his degree course in Politics and International Relations (environmental policy his area of particular interest) at Exeter University, having spent his ‘industry placement’ year as an intern helping Modulex to achieve its goal to become the green alternative among sign manufacturers. He is passionate about furthering the sustainability agenda and incorporating the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals within corporate development.
Adele Orcajada is a Partner in MaterialDriven. Adele has been a material researcher, librarian and curator since 2014, having worked for HMKM and The SCIN Gallery, before becoming involved at MaterialDriven, where she continues to explore material innovation with brands and institutions. A Central Saint Martins graduate, Adele has a background as a fashion accessories designer and product developer, sourcing materials and transforming them into products for high street fashion brands as well as fair trade initiatives. She has lectured at fashion and design schools in Spain and the UK, including Accademia del Lusso, Royal College of Arts and Ravensbourne. Adele also regularly contributes to Fashion Revolution’s Open Studio and The Maiyet Collective’s series at Harvey Nichols and The Festival of Making. Her talks are on cutting edge topics such as material innovation, sustainability and circular economy. Her essay on regenerative design will be included in the soon-to-be-published Slow Fashion to Save Minds by Laundry Arts Service.
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