Design within Earth’s boundaries

Overview

Every year, roughly halfway through, we exceed the so-called ecological limit. We’re living at the expense of future generations, who will have to face the consequences of our thoughtless lifestyle in a few decades.

If we’re interested in introducing real change, not just acting at the level of SDG badges (which sometimes resemble more of a smile award than guidelines for real actions), a mindset change is crucial.

One of these changes is realizing that all our actions function within planetary limits of resources – it’s a bit like trying to stay within a shopping budget, except the stakes are the safety of future generations.

Based on this premise, I developed a workshop project aimed at teaching participants how to operate within environmental constraints while maintaining healthy development and minimizing harm to other beings.

Workshop agenda

❋ Educational lecture: raising awareness about the environmental and social impacts of digital activities

❋ Team formation: participants were divided into groups, each assigned a random organization type and digital project to develop.

❋ Role assignment: each team member was given a specific role with corresponding tasks:

marketing: reaching as many people as possible with the project (without spamming the entire planet)

strategy: realizing the company’s vision and mission

design: designing a functional and visually pleased solution

developer: coding the entire solution (without overheating the servers)

sales: generating profit (preferably not at the expense of future generations)

❋ Project development: teams were provided with environmental limits and digital components with associated environmental costs. Their goal was to design a product that balanced team interests while staying within environmental constraints.

Main reflection

The workshop evoked strong emotions, with the greatest tension arising between sales goals and environmental limitations. Reconciling profit with ecology proved to be exceptionally challenging.

Anecdote

Held during a tech startup’s retreat, the workshop sparked ongoing debates between marketing and development teams about creating effective digital campaigns while maintaining environmental integrity.

Rumors say that they’re still sitting at the bar, debating how to create effective digital campaigns without being an eco-hypocrite.