Since its establishment in 2003, the London Design Festival (LDF) has continually brought together designers, design theorists, manufacturers, retailers and intermediaries to shine a light on current developments and trends. The 18th iteration of the festival, to be held from 12 to 20 September, will be taking place in a city where every sixth person works in the creative sector, which is, by extension, London’s fastest-growing industry. International travel remains heavily restricted because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so this year’s festival will have a strong local focus and be a festival for Londoners. Alongside events and landmark projects on-site, there will also be forums taking place. SAP, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the LDF, for instance, want to use the occasion to reflect on the circular economy as a framework for positive global developments. The Circular Design Project is intended to act as a spark and shift designers’ attitudes and practices. Talks, podium discussions and seminars will aim to explore and explain how a sustainable future starts with design, what circular design means, and how the basic principles, benefits and routes to getting started must be described. In short, what steps can the global design and creative community take to create more circular design? Joe Iles, head of the Circular Design programme at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, comments, “By applying a circular design approach, designers can influence whether their new creation will ultimately end up as waste, or remain within a circular economy, providing value. It’s one of the greatest creative challenges of our time, and I’m looking forward to being part of this journey with a new audience of designers at this year’s LDF.”
