Design Economy
The Green Design Skills Gap
Insights into the scale and skills of environmental design in the UK
2024
Design as a green skill
How to read this report
Prevalence of design for environmental impact
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01 Introduction 02
03
Contents 01 Introduction 6 02 Design as a green skill 7 03 Prevalence of design for environmental impact 8 04 Design for Planet skills 9 05 Conclusion 16 06 Methodology 17 04 Design for Planet skills 05 Conclusion 06 Methodology
“Design skills are not only the golden thread through our world-leading Creative industries, but will be critical to the green transition. The Design Council's research shows we must act now to harness these. From schools, with Design & Technology renewed as a tool to tackle the climate emergency. To working designers in industry, equipping them with the skills to grow a fair, green economy.”
5 Design Economy The Green Design Skills Gap 01 Introduction 02 Design as a green skill 03 Prevalence of design for environmental impact
Lord Jo Johnson
Introduction
This short report draws insights from our forthcoming research into the environmental and social value of design in the UK, as part of our Design Economy research programme. The insight is drawn from a representative sample of 1,068 UK designers working across the design disciplines. Our key findings are:
Design is a key tool in the green transition:
66% of designers have designed for environmental impact in the last 12 months.
But there is a significant skills gap:
71% of designers say they think demand will grow, but only
43% feel they have the capability to meet this.
Only
46%
of designers are proficient or expert and only half think their education provided them with sufficient design for planet skills.
We need to invest in the green skills of current and future designers if we are to leverage the potential of the design sector for a new green economy.
01
6 04 Design for Planet skills 05 Conclusion 06 Methodology
Design as a green skill
We believe design is a core green skill. From the practical design skills needed to reduce or re-use resources in products and buildings (or indeed grow natural resources), to the transitional ‘heart and mind’ design skills needed to make sustainable products, services and places the easy and attractive choice for everyone. According to a Microsoft and BCG survey in 2022, design-thinking, circular thinking and systems thinking are integral to ensuring employers meet sustainability goals. Linkedin’s latest Green Skills Report (2023) shows that sustainable design skills have risen by over 60% in the last five years, faster than expertise in renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change.
Design for Planet is our mission. By ‘design for planet skills’ we mean the ability to design for reduced emissions and waste and increased biodiversity, in a commercial and equitable way. As this is not yet a mainstream term, we use ‘design for environmental impact’ as a proxy throughout the survey questions.
66% yes
32% No
2% Don’t know
02
Figure 1: Have any of your recent [last 12 months] projects addressed environmental issues?
7 Design Economy The Green Design Skills Gap 01 Introduction 02
03
Design as a green skill
Prevalence of design for environmental impact
Prevalence of design for environmental impact
Designers are already designing for environmental impact, with 66% of those surveyed having done so in the last 12 months. The same proportion also designed for social value.
Designers are working across a range of environmental issues. The most common issues addressed by the designers surveyed were carbon emissions and the net zero transition (27% of designers who have designed for environmental impact in the last 12 months), awareness and sustainable behaviour change (26%) and climate change adaptation (24%).
03
8% Transition to circular economy 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 27% Carbon Emissions/ the Net Zero transition 26% Environmental awareness + sustainable behaviour change 24% Climate change adaptation 19% Materials innovation 18% Air quality 15% Biodiversity 14% Sustainable production 14% Promoting environmental practices within a business 14% Sustainable energy transition 12% Sustainable consumption 12% Sustainable water use 10% Sustainable urban environment 10% Sustainable food 9% Sustainable land use 8% Sustainable mobility 8% Resource scarcity 0% 8 04 Design for Planet skills 05 Conclusion 06 Methodology
Figure 2: What environmental issues has your recent (last 12 months) work addressed?
Design for Planet skills
There is a significant capability and skills gap: Skills and knowledge are both a barrier and an enabler. Skills are rated the second and knowledge the fourth most important enabler (with technology rated highest). In terms of barriers, formal education is rated fifth, knowledge seventh and skills tenth, (with project timelines and budgets, and regulations in first and second place).
71% of designers say they think demand will grow, but only
43% feel they have the capability to meet this.
Confidence
Supply chain
Formal education and training
Public R&D and innovation funding
04
5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 0% 9% 12% 13% 15% 16% 16% 17% 18% 19% 22% 23% 25% 29% Regulation
around reputational risk - not getting it right or attemps being seen as greenwashing
Time available Project budgets Clients/customers
to quality tools Knowledge (theory) Skills (ability to put theory into practice) Access to quality information Technology 25%
Organisational culture Access
Figure 3: To what extent has each of the following factors been a ‘large enabler’ to you when designing for environmental impact?
9 Design Economy The Green Design Skills Gap 01 Introduction 02
as a green skill 03 Prevalence of design
environmental
Design
for
impact
Only 46% of designers rate themselves proficient or expert in design for environmental impact.
Fewer than 50% feel their education has enabled them to design for environmental impact. Worryingly this is not an educational legacy issue - only 47% of 16–24-year-old designers believe their education has enabled them to design for environmental impact to a moderate or large extent.
Designers have higher levels of confidence in skills that are core to design practice such as analytical thinking, collaboration, communication, problem-framing and prototyping, but less confidence in the fundamentals of sustainability and business governance.
Expert Proficient Intermediate Basic No skills 14% 32% 32% 20% 3%
Figure 4: How would you assess your overall design for environmental knowledge and skills?
Expert Proficient Intermediate Basic No skills 16% 35% 31% 16% 2%
Figure 5: How would you assess your overall design for social impact knowledge and skills?
To a large extent To a moderate extent To a mild extent To a slight extent Not at all 19% 31% 25% 13% 12% 10 04 Design for Planet skills 05 Conclusion 06 Methodology
Figure 6: To what extent has your education enabled you to design for environmental impact?
Introduction
Design as a green skill
Prevalence of design for environmental impact
Designers have higher levels of confidence in design for planet approaches that are more generalist such as social design, sustainable materials design and design for sustainable behaviour change, but less confidence in more technical approaches such as biomimicry, biophilic design, circular design and eco-design.
Collaboration
Communication & storytelling
Problem framing
Prototyping & problem resolution
Innovation
Long-term outlook, future thinking
Technological skills (incl. AI)
Systems thinking, holistic approach
Leadership
Relationship development, negotiation
Value management & value assessment
Resilience, risk management
Understanding and acting upon policy, regulations & legislation
Fundamentals of sustainability
Business governance
As 45% of carbon emissions come from industrial production and land use – where circular design has an important role to play – these will be key skills in the transition to a green economy.
41% 44% 44% 46% 47% 50% 54% 55% 56% 56% 56% 57% 57% 57% 61% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
11 Design Economy The Green Design Skills Gap 01
Figure 7: Which of the following core design practice skills do you feel expert or proficient in?
02
03
Figure 8: % of respondents feeling competent to a large or moderate extent in selecting and using the following design approaches
Social design
Sustainable materials design
Systemic design
Design for the circular economy…
design Transition design
Ecodesign Design activism
Biomimicry
12 04
56%
55%
52%
50%
49%
48%
48%
47%
45%
43%
37%
Design for sustainable behaviour 37%
Biophilic design
57% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Policy
Regenerative design Design for Net Zero
To a large extent
05 Conclusion 06 Methodology
Design for Planet skills
Skill levels vary across the design disciplines. Architecture, interior, urban and landscape designers, and product and industrial designers have the most expertise in designing for environmental impact (although the latter are further down the list when it comes to feeling their education has equipped them to do so). This seems largely related to levels of education required and Continuing Professional Development available, as well as the level of interaction with physical materials.
Systemic and policy designers, and service and experience designers have the least expertise, despite their pivotal role in dealing with the complex, interconnected issues of the climate and nature crises, and creating the services through which a new circular economy will function.
Levels of self-reported expertise increase with seniority with entry level designers (and most recent graduates) least proficient or expert.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 53% Architecture, interior, urban, landscape 51% Digital, UX/UI 50% Product, industrial 44% Clothing, fashion, textiles, footwear 43% Graphic, visual communication 40% Advertising 33% Strategic, organisational, system, policy 32% Service, experience 30% Craft 70% President/Chief Executive/Owner 69% Director 48% Senior 39% Designer / Individual contributor 35% Mid-senior 34% Freelancer 25% Entry level 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Figure 9: % of respondents considering they are proficient or expert in design for environment skills by design discipline.
Figure 10: % of respondents considering they are proficient or expert in design for environment skills by design role.
13 Design Economy The Green Design Skills Gap 01 Introduction 02
03
Design as a green skill
Prevalence of design for environmental impact
14 04
for Planet skills 05 Conclusion 06 Methodology
Design
15 Design Economy The Green Design Skills Gap 01 Introduction 02 Design as
03 Prevalence of
for
a green skill
design
environmental impact
Conclusion
It is clear that a large proportion of designers are already designing for environmental impact, and that design is a core tool for the green economy.
However, designers’ potential is being held back by a significant capability and skills gap. We need to invest in upskilling current and future designers in green skills if we are to leverage the design sector as a transformative asset for the green transition.
This starts at school, where teachers must be supported to mainstream regenerative and sustainable design into design education. And stretches right up to the c-suite where design leaders need technical upskilling to navigate the green transition.
The latest Climate Change Commission report has rated the UK government’s ambitions on plans to deliver net zero skills as ‘red’. Including design skills can boost this ambition through an additional 1.97 million people working across industry, from retail to transport.
Through our Design for Planet mission, we will work with partners across education and industry to develop a proposition for how we can best support the UK’s design industry to upskill, in the lead up to hosting the World Design Congress in 2025.
Please do get in touch with the Design Council if you would like to be part of this and look out for the fuller report into The State of the Environmental and Social Value of Design in the UK, to be published in summer 2024.
05
16 04 Design for Planet skills 05 Conclusion 06 Methodology
Design as a green skill
Methodology
This survey draws from a representative sample of 1,068 designers across the UK. Statistical weightings for different attributes have been applied to ensure it is representative of the UK design sector. The survey was undertaken by PDR in Q4 2023.
Credits
Authors (Design Council)
Ben Kulka and Cat Drew
Research (PDR)
Katie Beverley
Anna Whicher
Piotr Swiatek
Olivia Goonatillake
Graphic Design
Joana Pereira
Photos
Morrama and Batch.Works partnership: Adaptable kids’ headphones. Credit: Batch. Works (page 5).
Textomur stone-faced reinforced soil system at London Olympic Park. Credit: Phi Group (page 14).
TOAST Renewed Collection clothing visibly mended on a line. Credit: TOAST (page 15).
17 Design Economy The Green Design Skills Gap 01
02
03
Introduction
Prevalence of design for environmental impact
Design Council
The Design Council is the UK’s national strategic advisor for design, championing design and its ability to make life better for all. It is an independent and not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal Charter. The Design Council uniquely works across all design sectors and delivers programmes with business, government, public bodies and the third sector. The work encompasses thought leadership, tools and resources, showcasing excellence and research to evidence the value of design and influence policy. Its Design for Planet mission was introduced in 2021 to galvanise and support the 1.97 million people who work in the UK’s design economy to help achieve net zero and beyond.
18 04 Design for Planet skills 05 Conclusion 06 Methodology
work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
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