Policy & Cooperation International Inspiration & Sustainable Choices
picture on top: Daniel Engvall
SUSTAINORDIC is a platform and network that aims to promote sustainable consumption and production based on a Nordic perspective, in accordance with the UN’s Global Goal 12 of Agenda 2030. The initiative takes its starting point in a joint Manifesto with 12 underlying subgoals. The Manifesto has interpreted Goal 12 into more concrete points of action, which resonate with Nordic values and culture.
Interview with Helena Uesson, Form Design Centre, Project Manager, SUSTAINORDIC.
Why did you start to develop this initiative?
There was a new need for the circular design community to collaborate and share knowledge and position design in a totally different way. Design as a process, addressing problems and utilising different industries beyond architecture and design.
Please tell us how it all began?
It was started in 2014 by Jonas Olsson, now CEO at SVID, Swedish Industrial Design Foundation, who initiated the talks with the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Commerce. He managed to receive funding for the work to create and implement a Nordic design platform.
The purpose was to present the design community with a new role, and open up a process, method and service. I joined the project in a different form and was hired to take part in the procurement to continue the work. We got funding for a year, which later was prolonged for three more years.
After laying out the foundation for this platform, it grew from being knowledge sharing into a publication, housing all the knowledge built up. Publicised in 2019.
We looked at the grassroots aspect and how norm-breaking individuals can initiate and spread new sustainable ideas. We found this to be key to change norms within a society. We wanted to take this further into policy making.
In our The Nordic Report 2.0, we involved experts within sustainable consumption and production. Then, linking their knowledge with recent changes in policy within the Nordic countries. These changes promoted a new way of working with sustainable development.
In The Nordic Report 3.0, we saw how norms locked people into reality tunnels within the sustainable sector. We wanted to challenge that. In this research we created 12 phenomena, topics that contrast each other. Then we let our experts shed new light on these popular preconceptions.
What has been the challenge?
A mix of things have been challenging. Before Covid-19 we could see a huge interest in contributing to the platform, but there was a lack of time. We tried to arrange meetings but it was tricky to find time to get together. Sometimes our partners from the different Nordic countries operate in very dissimilar ways. Some are more into the cultural sector; others are solely occupied with business or architecture. It has truly been a challenge to define our focus. It is not only design, but we also want to involve the environment, digitalisation, and new economic models. SUSTAINORDIC has utilised a very broad net in catching the zeitgeist of the design community. Scientific scrutiny has been important and experts have proofread all our findings within this process.
picture: Daniel Engvall
What is your vision and what do you want to achieve with SUSTAINORDIC?
We just launched the new report, and the vision has been to make an impact on decision makers. The main focus has been to move policies forward. The project is founded by the Nordic Council of Ministers with the intent to spread this internationally, to get knowledge and spread insights from the work. Therefore, our digital launches are directed toward an international crowd. We have collaborated with many Nordic embassies around the world.
What makes the SUSTAINORDIC content different from other initiatives in your field?
We have tried to be objective, we have been really careful with what sources we use, all have been checked. SUSTAINORDIC is interdisciplinary and thus showcases a broad array of sustainable production.
Also tackling behaviour change on the psychological and normative side. The aim has been to keep it broad but still sharp!
How is your instrument/solution accepted? What obstacles were faced and how were they overcome?
It’s always a challenge to keep the language on a level that suits everyone. In an effort to solve this challenge, we have worked with Jakob Trollbäck at New Division, who developed the design for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Our project could have dug deeper into lots of subjects. But we have time limits, and also spatial limits within our report.
A positive thing is that our partners in the network have been great to contribute with contacts and international progress. That has been valuable since the whole project group is based in Sweden.
What is the status of the circular economy in Sweden?
I think that there are a lot of interesting initiatives and lots of companies working with the circular economy, but the behaviour amongst consumers needs to change. Sometimes it’s more expensive to make the good choice. Finland has reached a totally different level than us. And we need to learn more from them.
Workshop session during the annual SUSTAINORDIC network meeting at DOGA in Oslo, 2019 | picture: SUSTAINORDIC
How does SUSTAINORDIC tackle environmental and societal benefits?
I think it’s the interdisciplinary focus of SUSTAINORDIC that makes it affect social sustainability and human interactions as well.
Sustainable production and consumption is not only about the environment, it’s about everything. It’s about producing materials, also the value chain of waste, carbon emissions, and consumption patterns. And within these topics we can move decision making in the right direction and also look into new economic models. This is something we want to pinpoint in our reports, as we want to be an eye opener within sustainable development. Our values in the Nordic countries help us take bold decisions.
What must change in people’s minds in order to achieve sustainable goals?
The designer needs to be someone who uses innovation to challenge the status quo. More things could be designed from the beginning, designing a product to be disassembled, and then made into new products.
Virgin materials are usually cheaper than recycled materials and that needs to change. We promote a tax on these virgin materials to fuel the production of recycled products.
I do believe that circular design is the answer to many issues!
If you had extraordinary, magical powers for one day, what, with SUSTAINORDIC in mind, would you change and why?
I would give The Nordic Report to every living person on Earth, as it’s a very good compilation of the whole topic and we’ve managed to communicate it in a clear way.
What are you particularly proud of with SUSTAINORDIC and what are your further plans?
This concerns everyone. And there is a strong urge by people to collaborate around sustainability. And I’m really proud of how we geared this project to be holistic but still to the point. There was a huge mass of research and policies from different countries that needed to go into the project. The project team managed to communicate this complex material in an informative way.
We’re looking into a potential continuation right now. We just released the last report, and we try to link that to political initiatives and Nordic collaborations. SUSTAINORDIC must continue.
What is your key message? What is your message to designers?
SUSTAINORDIC is a take on sustainable production and consumption. A lot of people think that they can’t make a difference, but everyone can have an impact. So just stand up and try to take a lead in the transition.
Are you optimistic about the future?
That’s so up and down, some days – like now with the pandemic – it’s tough, but I always feel hopeful. And when you read about all the great initiatives that are going on you do feel hopeful. So I’m quite hopeful.
pictures: Daniel Engvall
What trends in business models do you expect in the near future?
Something that’s striking is the future of transportation. That whole industry is really doing groundbreaking innovation using AI and renewable energy. Both the private sector and whole cities need to improve their infrastructure. And that is some of the tools being used.
One initiative would be mobility as service! That’s really interesting! They’re trying to make a shift with new technology that has to do with sustainability and future societies.
What is for you the best innovation of the last five years?
The Karma app! It is really something that I could never come up with myself but it’s so useful and necessary. It’s a very simple and intuitive app that reduces food waste. And solves a lot of daily problems on the go.
Is there a question that we should have asked?
The future of waste is super interesting, and the future of transportation.
We haven’t mentioned the importance of collaboration, and we are good at that in the Nordic countries.
AI is also important and we approach it in an interesting way in the book. The good thing is that it will maybe create more jobs. It’s a myth that it will take all our jobs. But at the same time we do need to be careful of our personal integrity.
START OF THE INITIATIVE
The project was founded in 2015 with the support of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
SUSTAINORDIC is a collaborative network between six Nordic design and architecture institutions. The project owners are the Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design and Form/Design Center (Sweden), the co-partners are DOGA (Norway), DAC (Danmark), Design Forum Finland and Iceland Design and Architecture.
LOCATION
The Nordic Report, which is the main output of The SUSTAINORDIC project, is offered to its target audience on a global scale.
MISSION
The aim of the network is to collect and spread Nordic examples of best practice in sustainable production and consumption internationally, and to stimulate the development of national policies in the field.
TARGET GROUP
The target audience of The Nordic Report includes international decision makers in politics and business as well as in design, architecture, media, culture, education and research.
MOST INNOVATIVE ASPECTS
That countries that are leading the world in sustainable development are looking at the complexity of sustainable production and consumption as a whole, with a solution-based approach.
DIGITAL OFFERS
Yes, The Nordic Report 01, 02 and 03 are available through the project website and network partners websites. The Nordic Report 03 was launched through a “digital launch kit” in November. Interested parties can access this user friendly and digital launch to spread Nordic best practice initiatives within Goal 12 through their own organisation. For more information contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
A FEW NUMBERS
The Nordic Report 01 (2019)
Containing 60 good examples of sustainable production and consumption
from Nordic businesses and private individuals, as well
as 12 expert interviews.
The Nordic Report 02 (2020)
Containing over 100 Nordic initiatives within sustainable production
and consumption from industry, academia and government,
as well as 12 expert interviews.
The Nordic Report 03 (2020)
Containing 12 in-depth phenomena, including the paradigm shift
from linear to circular economy, a waste-free society and the
future of transports and food, are discussed by 28 of the most
prominent voices in the Nordic countries within the area of sustainable
production and consumption.
The Nordic Report has been widely disseminated through 16
events around Sweden and Europe, as well as through Nordic
embassies around the world. It has been distributed to politicians,
from presidents to ministers, researchers and international media.
The Nordic Report contributes to advanced knowledge and
insights, dialogue, new meetings and collaborations, and shares
inspiration for “the Nordic way” in order to contribute to a sustainable
future.