Service Design with the Planet in Mind

As this issue of Touchpoint goes to press, COP26 is just a few weeks away. This will be the 26th edition of the UN’s climate change summit, and it comes with an urgent burden: It is seen as “… the world’s best last chance to get runaway climate change under control.” No pressure then, as they say. If the thoughts of thousands of suited delegates meeting in Glasgow does not provide you confidence that our climate emergency will be adequately addressed – and the history of past emission reduction pledges and even announcements from China in the run-up to COP26 don’t inspire confidence – then what are you to do? What you’re about to read might be a beacon of hope, and offer you the chance to direct your impact as a service designer towards addressing the climate crisis and sustainability concerns in general. As the authors of this issue share from their different perspectives, we can learn to not only take sustainability concerns into account in our work, but our tools and methods can be adapted and expanded to ensure we make positive steps towards addressing them. Whether it’s applying strategic foresight to develop resilient and sustainable solutions (see Rebello and Black, page 18), adding the concepts of eco-design and circular design to our repertoire (see Bugeaud-Remond, page 34), or getting organisations focussed on their future customers (see Reason and van Lieren, page 44), there is plenty of inspiration as well as actionable insights waiting for you in the upcoming pages. Only time will tell if COP26 achieved its supremely ambitious goal. And looking at the success of past international efforts, it can seem that achieving meaningful progress and a real course reversal would be an incredible breakthrough. However I hold out hope for another reason: More and more service designers from our dispersed, global community are finding themselves in positions of influence in both government and the largest organisations. If – through our roles – we can apply the mindset and techniques shared here, we can surely make a collective impact. As Al Gore, Nobel Laureate and former US Vice President, said, “Solving the climate crisis is within our grasp, but we need people like you to stand up and act.” Let’s hope this issue (further) inspires you to act, using the unique position you hold as a service designer.