> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://4revs.gitbook.io/handbook/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://4revs.gitbook.io/handbook/chapters/daring-design.md).
# DARING DESIGN
A few years ago, Ilaria Brambilla came across the work of the Greek artist and designer Katerina Kamprani through her collection "The Uncomfortable Design" at the Milan Design Week. She was living in Milan at the time.
*"I distinctly remember the sense of frustration, amusement, and admiration I felt when I saw it: a series of everyday objects designed to make their use impossible, discomforting, or even potentially harmful to anyone daring to attempt to use them. It ranged from forks with handles partly composed of a soft chain; to rubber boots with an open front, an inflatable handle; or a chair with a convex upward-facing seat. Kamprani's purpose is to play with product design, particularly that of the objects we are most familiar with, to provoke reflection on the importance of design in everyday life."*
*"After seeing her uncomfortable collection, I began to look around and pay more attention to the usability of objects. Moreover, I started to question “what is design" and the consequences of designing objects, production processes, business models, and user experiences in one way, compared to other possible ways. This led to pondering the design connection to sustainability: what impact can the design of a product have on its ecological footprint? On recyclability? On repairability? On circularity?"*
[We have known for a decade that 80% of a product's environmental impact is determined in the design phase](https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/4d42d597-4f92-4498-8e1d-857cc157e6db). In this chapter, we discuss Daring Design, a design that goes beyond mere usability and production cost and which questions long-term environmental impact and sustainability.
By the term "design," we generally refer to the discipline that deals with creating physical, digital, or conceptual objects through developing a project that combines functionality and aesthetics. In this section of the 4Revs Handbook, we will primarily focus on product design, without forgetting that every action has an environmental impact.
Who is involved in low-impact design? Without delving fully into the recent history of design, we can highlight some significant moments.
In 2017, representatives from the international community of designers, architects, planners, and landscape architects participated in the inaugural[ World Design Summit](https://worlddesignsummit.com/). At its conclusion, many signed the[ Montreal Design Declaration](http://www.designdeclaration.org/declaration/). The Declaration asserts the potential of design in achieving global economic, social, environmental, and cultural goals. It includes a compelling call to action directed at professionals, educators, and governments and a list of proposed projects under the motto “All people deserve to live in a well-designed world.”
In 2018, the Ellen McArthur Foundation with IDEO started the[ Circular Design Guide](https://www.circulardesignguide.com/), a set of tools, methods, and mindsets to transform your design by applying circular economy principles.
In 2022, the European Commission released a proposal to expand the scope of regulations on eco-design, outlined in the Ecodesign Directive, to a much broader range of products beyond those related to energy. The new regulations will cover environmental aspects such as energy efficiency, carbon footprint, water footprint, and sustainability requirements, including durability, repairability, recycled material content, and standards for information and transparency facilitated by adopting a digital passport.
But how can we navigate the definitions of sustainable, eco-design, or circular design? [Here is a possible classification](https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/insights/design-for-transformation/international-design-scoreboard/).
## Eco-design
As mentioned earlier, the term "eco-design" is often used more broadly to express sustainable design. According to the European Environmental Agency, eco-design is the integration of environmental aspects into the product development process, balancing ecological and economic requirements. Eco-design considers environmental factors in all stages of the product development process, aiming to achieve products with the least possible environmental impact throughout their entire lifecycle. This involves choosing low-impact materials, optimizing production, making distribution efficient, ensuring low-impact use, and optimizing the product life cycle. Designers are required to have a strategic mindset that addresses all sustainability fronts, while focusing on the market needs.
## Design for Sustainability
The United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) report "[Design for Sustainability: A Step-by-Step Approach](https://www.unep.org/resources/report/design-sustainability-step-step-approach)" shows how, like many other environmental concepts, eco-design has evolved to include social elements. The vision of "Design for Sustainability" requires that the design process and the resulting product consider environmental, social, and economic factors: people, profit, and the planet. It goes beyond creating a "green" product and embraces how to meet consumer needs more sustainably. At this point, design no longer focuses solely on product design. Rather, it applies a systemic view, where political issues such as democracy and justice can also be included in this objective.
## Transformative Design
[Transformative design](https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/insights/design-for-transformation/) is a design approach that involves multiple stakeholders in addressing a problem. Essentially, any design, whether of a product, service, or practice, contributes to the transformation necessary for a sustainable future. It brings together all the factors mentioned earlier and adds the design of entirely new ways of thinking about the human experience in the future. This is often achieved through creating solutions that highlight new ways of living.
## Circular Design
Bringing together the principles outlined so far, circular design is also eco-design and design for sustainability, and it can also be defined as "transformative." Two elements are added, in particular: the goal of eliminating all forms of waste and $the efficient use of resources.
That said, dozens of different taxonomies attribute specific characteristics or nomenclature to what we here call Daring Design. In this chapter, we will adopt the 4Revs value compass to move through the axes of:
1\. circular economy,
2\. long-term thinking,
3\. systems thinking,
The values are needed to identify the most critical aspects of a design that can contribute to a livable present and thriving future. Clearly, these three aspects are interconnected, as one cannot talk about a circular economy without considering long-term and systemic thinking. However, we will address these values individually, breaking these concepts down for greater clarity.
