1 May, 2025 FranklinTill’s Caroline Till believes designers need to up their game to build a more eco-friendly future. We’re being fed a lie. A lie that transitioning to a flourishing, sustainable and circular future is too difficult. That our systems are too complex. That it will take too long. That there isn’t a viable alternative. That our economy will collapse if we push for a different model. But anyone who came to Tarkett’s inaugural Inspire Circular event on Monday afternoon will tell you something different. Because there was one resounding message that came out of the event. A single, unifying, unmistakable belief that was voiced by every speaker across three sessions – from designers and architects, to academics and economists. A sustainable, circular future is entirely within our grasp. We know how to get there, and every single person has the agency to change our current damaging and extractive economic system. But we need to reclaim the narrative. Because at the moment it’s being controlled by actors who want to protect the status quo by telling us that change and adaptation are impossible. The future of our economy and society will be shaped by whether or not we let them succeed. It will be shaped by our ability to change the narrative and mobilise a world that’s being told it’s too difficult. “No-one is pretending the transition will be easy. But don’t for a minute let anyone fool you into thinking it’s impossible.” What was so striking at the event was the deep conviction that designers and architects have a vital role to play in changing the system. Sometimes conversations about “systems change” can feel overwhelming. We experience a sort of cognitive overload where it all feels too big and complicated, and we revert back to business as usual. But these are human systems. Ever-evolving, and man-made. Who better to re-design and shape them than designers? Every single person in our industry can contribute to small shifts which will lead to much bigger changes in the system. We have more agency than we give our industry credit for. So how can we do it? How can designers work within their sphere of influence to mobilise and drive the change we need to see? Here’s what we learned from our panelists. Collaborate There’s a huge opportunity to radically increase collaboration within and across industries: sharing information and developing systems that keep products, materials, and energy flowing across industries. Tarkett, for example, looks beyond its own industry for collaboration opportunities and now uses waste calcium carbonate from the Dutch water industry and pine rosin from Scandinavian paper mills in its EcoBase carpet tile backing. Sarah Dodge from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation described how co-opetition takes things even further, with competitors collaborating strategically to create mutual value or tackle shared challenges without undermining their competitive edge. Re-use Waste doesn’t exist in nature, so it shouldn’t exist within our human ecosystems. So what would happen if we stopped talking about waste? Could we flip the script and talk about demolition waste as assets? How can we more formally connect deconstruction with reconstruction to establish reuse as the default option? Work locally and bioregionally We need to take more localised approaches when designing and building, ensuring we’re connected to place and locale, and making full use of localised materials and knowledge – whether harvesting from local or regional sources, or excavating from previous buildings and structures. As Jonny Buckland from Studio Saar explained, “We need to ensure architecture reflects a story that’s rooted to place, and the value that brings to people locally.” Cíaran Malik of the Architectural Association had a similar perspective, suggesting, ‘the circular economy should be the first shelf we go to. We should be thinking first of locally sourced materials and circular economy materials – a really interesting aesthetic would come out of that.” Fire imaginations Designers and architects have the power to make circularity more attractive. We need to show the beauty and possibility of buildings and products made from secondary materials, that come with their own textured and imperfect histories. As designers, we also need to feed our own imaginations. We need to get curious about materials, ask questions and experiment more. Don’t use complexity as an excuse Over the last decade we’ve seen a huge evolution of measurement metrics and frameworks to support the journey to circularity. They serve a purpose, but we need to be careful that measurement doesn’t become the end goal. Complex metrics can distract us from the more simple goal of extracting as little virgin material as possible, and eliminating waste by keeping materials in the loop. Sustainability is an adaptation challenge, and we can choose how to go about it. As Ioannis Ioannou from London Business School explained in his keynote, the transition to better alignment between our economy, our people and the planet’s finite resources is going to happen one way or another. We still have time to decide whether it’s orderly, or chaotic and crisis-driven. If, like me, you’d prefer an orderly transition, then we as an industry need to up our game. We need to start telling a different collective story that speaks of collaboration, beauty and possibility. We need to start making shifts within our sphere of influence that will drive demand for circular approaches that help our unsustainable economic system to evolve. No-one is pretending the transition will be easy. But don’t for a minute let anyone fool you into thinking it’s impossible. Caroline Till is the co-founder and executive director at FranklinTill, which supports brands and other organisations to use design and material innovation to shift towards a more sustainable future. Industries in this article Brands in this article What to read next Opinion “Sustainability is no longer enough” 6 Jan, 2025