Design Museum Academy Design for Business
Design Your Way to Net Zero
Join this one-day introductory-level course for businesses to gain essential knowledge about carbon emissions. Learn about methods and tools to enable carbon reduction strategies and innovative design-led net zero business solutions.
What to expect
This introductory-level CPD-certified carbon literacy course for small and medium-sized businesses is designed to demystify and support you in starting to implement carbon reduction actions immediately.
Whatever your business sector or level of design interest or expertise, the workshop will equip you with the knowledge and tools needed to start making change.
Through the facilitation of URGE Collective’s designer and strategist Alexie Sommer, you will learn from a team of industry experts and gain practical insights from business leaders. Aimed at leadership teams and those interested in greening their organisations, this workshop will introduce methodologies including Life Cycle Assessment, the GHG Protocol and carbon management platforms.
Using case studies from our past exhibitionWaste Age: What can design do?, the course will explore innovative carbon modelling solutions and provide a rich and stimulating mixture of inspiring ideas and practical tools.
Learning outcomes
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has called on businesses to reduce their 2018 carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. Do you know what your 2018 emissions were? If not, this introductory course will teach you design-led methodologies and tools that can be applied to measure, reduce and remove carbon.
• Discover tools to calculate your business carbon footprint and design methods that support the reduction of carbon emissions
• Learn about applying methods in practise and innovative net zero carbon solutions
• Participants will work in teams to discuss the opportunities and challenges that carbon removal presents
• Develop a 'carbon reduction action plan’ to implement daily carbon reduction actions for their businesses.
Previous Net Zero workshops photographed by Matthew Kaltenborn.
Programme outline
Participants will work in teams to discuss the opportunities and challenges that carbon removal presents and develop a carbon reduction action plan for their businesses.
09:00 Arrival reception & coffee
09:30 Welcome & introductions
09:40 Alexie Sommer – Why we need to decarbonise – LCA – GHG Protocol – Scope 01, 02, 03
10:30 Nitesh Magdani – Carbon Emissions and the Built Environment
11:15 Break
11:30 Hannah Burgess: The Design Museum’s Sustainability Strategy
12:15 Bengt Cousins-Jenvey: Carbon Management
12:45 Lunch
13:30 Activity: Calculate your business carbon
15:00 Break
15:15 Carbon Hotspot exercise
15:45 Hoa Doan, Notpla: Making packaging disappear
16:15 Summary: Participant Questions & Feedback
16:30 Course ends
Capacity is limited, we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment.
This course is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses that are design-led or interested in bringing design methods into their practices. It is also suitable for all designers including product, industrial, service, digital and communication designers.
All equipment, materials and light refreshments will be provided for the duration of the session.
Facilitator
Alexie Sommer
Sommer is a Designer and Communicator focused on the intersection between design creativity, business sustainability and authentic communication. A founding member of URGE collective, Alexie is passionate about delivering positive impact applied through strategic thinking and design intuition. Previously creative director at Thomas Matthews and Design Director for creative at The Guardian and The Observer newspaper group.
Speakers
Hannah Burgess
Burgess manages the development and delivery of our temporary exhibitions whilst supporting the museum's work towards a green transition. Burgess has extensive experience working in the cultural and non-profit sector, with a focus on exhibition production in design and architecture, including roles at the International Federation of Interior Architects and Designers (NY), Australian Institute of Architects (Sydney), British Council, Tate and the RIBA (London). She holds an MA in Museum and Gallery Studies.
Bengt Cousins-Jenvey
Bengt is an environmentalist, technologist and analyst of the interplay between environmental, social, and commercial challenges. He has spent his career researching, developing and implementing innovative policies, strategies, methods, services, products and tools to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, low-waste future. He is an Entrepreneur in Residence at venture studio etsaW and an independent consultant using data and AI to explore material risks, alternative resources and waste opportunities.
Hoa Doan
Doan is the Head of Impact and Sustainability at Notpla, a startup that recently won The Earthshot Prize for its plastic-free packaging products made from seaweed and plants. She is a climate policy expert and has advised the UK government and large organisations on delivering their net zero commitments. She developed the Net Zero Plan for the National Health Service and was a policy advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Nitesh Magdani
Magdani is the Founder of Net Positive Solutions. With over 20 years of experience working across design, construction and property development, his focus on sustainability came about through R&D of natural and passive design solutions for clients. He has held leadership roles at Royal BAM Group and the Supply Chain Sustainability School. Magdani's helps companies to design and implement solutions to reduce emissions and become more circular, promoting positive benefits to society and our natural environment.
Book online
Booking information
Adult: £330
Early bird Adult: £300
Members*: £280
*Please note that this benefit applies only to the cardholding Member’s ticket and not to those of additional guests.
• Capacity is limited, please book in advance to avoid disappointment
• Early bird until 30 October 2024
Check out the Design Museum Academy refunds and cancellations policy here.
Additional information
– If you would like to let us know about any access requirements, including neurodiversity, there is the option to notify us at the ticket checkout
– If you would like to have 1:1 support for this workshop, you are welcome to bring a companion to support you on your project, at no extra cost. To request a companion spot please email learning@designmuseum.org with your booking information
– This session has a capacity of 20 participants
– If you have any questions, please contact learning@designmuseum.org
Testemonials from previous courses
'There was a lot to take in so I’m grateful to have the slides so I can revisit the content and digest it properly. The course had a more practical approach than expected which I was very pleased about'
'The guest speakers were excellent and gave a real insight into active work in their areas'
'It was great to get a bit more detail on some methodology mixed with concrete examples that helped make things more tangible'
'The course was a great balance of system-level approach and design. I found the new knowledge very useful, as well as the varied range of speakers and the chance to network with other attendees. It was a brilliant event, thank you!'
Further reading
Working to make change in ‘Waste Age’
Reducing impact is everyone's business and a continuous learning process. Discover how the Design Museum is experimenting with adopting new methods to cut the environmental cost of its exhibitions. Through Waste Age: What Can Design Do, on display until 20 February 2022, the museum set out to understand the resource use, production methods, supply chains, and lifecycles of all exhibits and materials.
To make sure the museum was genuinely challenging existing methods, an advisory panel of leading experts were appointed alongside URGE to guide the development of the exhibition, and the museum teams also partnered with designers dedicated to ecological practices.
"We asked specialists to monitor our process, helping us to make change throughout."
– Gemma Curtin, Waste Age Curator, the Design Museum
The museum's commitment to a greener future
The Design Museum makes the impact of design visible to all, therefore we are committed to showing how we can all do things differently to get better outcomes for the environment. Through our programmes and how the museum’s operations are run, the museum will continue to champion design that makes a difference. Below you can find how we have sought to put in practice this thinking so far.