RMIT picks up circular economy win at the Good Design Awards

RMIT University

A report unveiling a critical roadmap to transition Australia to a circular economy through design has won the prestigious Good Design Award for Design Research at this year’s awards ceremony.

Led by RMIT in collaboration with Arcadis and One Planet Consulting, the ‘Enabling Design for Environmental Good’ report highlights opportunities for Australia to use design to improve the sustainability of production processes, materials, products and business models across local industries, as well as the risks of not doing so.

“The research and passion behind this project should set a new standard for Circular Design strategies in Australia — well done,” said The Good Design Awards Jury.

Project lead and RMIT Associate Professor Simon Lockrey said the award win is a crucial step forward to helping Australia transition to a circular economy by 2030.

“This call for a new and coordinated approach to designing sustainable products and industries is not a nice-to-have, but an urgent necessity,” said Lockrey.

“This Good Design Award for our project represents national recognition by the design industry that both co-design research and sustainability strategy are timely and pertinent for the sector.

“We hope this will lead to greater awareness and uptake of circularity by both those who design, and those who manage and fund the design process.”

Enabling Design for Environmental Good‘ was created by RMIT University, Arcadis and One Planet Consulting and commissioned by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

The Good Design Awards are the highest honour for design and innovation in the country and reward diverse projects across 11 Design Disciplines covering more than 35 Categories and Subcategories.

Each year, the Awards celebrate the best new products and services on the Australian and international market, excellence in architectural design, engineering, fashion, digital and communication design, and reward new and emerging areas of design including design strategy, social impact design, design research and up-and-coming design talent in the next-gen category.

/Public Release.