solutions.
Cooperation is often misunderstood as being unnatural. Competition has been drummed into our heads as the driver of natural evolution for so long that we often classify cooperation as merely a human invention. The fact, however, is that all sophisticated systems, including nature, have required cooperation on lower levels in order to support competition on new, higher levels. In time, often, these higher levels are standardized, and cooperation leads to new innovations that compete at yet even higher levels.
For example, this book would not be possible without a high degree of cooperation in production, manufacturing, distribution, and even language. If we didn’t agree on grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and morphology as much as we do, we wouldn’t be able to communicate with language. Language, in fact, wouldn’t exist, and without it we wouldn’t be able to discuss such abstract concepts as cooperation versus competition. This is always the case when we learn a new language or when we learn about new systems, like sustainability.
Cooperation is often misunderstood as being unnatural.
Nature is awash with examples of cooperation (evolution itself wouldn’t be possible without it), and it is the only reason why complexity develops. Competition may be the mechanism by which new innovations succeed or fail, but cooperation is the foundation on which innovations occur. In our drive to support innovation and improvement (evolution, in other words), we often discount cooperation, which directly limits our ability to create complexity. We shouldn’t be afraid of cooperating on standards, systems, and understandings because this is a necessary precursor to higher-order development and advancement. For all design—especially sustainable design—it’s imperative that we cooperate on some levels in order to succeed at others. As designers, we must be aware of where we (and our clients) need to cooperate in order to understand the best opportunities for competition.
Competition may be the mechanism by which new innovations succeed or fail, but cooperation is the foundation on which innovations occur.
In addition, while cooperation means working together, collaboration implies working together toward a common goal. As designers, we both cooperate and collaborate with a range of stakeholders. Not everyone has to be working toward the same goals in order to cooperate. However, you will find many stakeholders whose goals already align if made clear: customers, suppliers, retailers, waste collectors, and so on. But you won’t find these opportunities to cooperate and collaborate if you don’t look for them.
Ecological Vitality
There is no question that an unhealthy, unstable environment decreases efficiency and our ability to create stable, healthy societies and communities. Yet, human history is filled with examples where we do just the opposite. For a variety of reasons, we have accepted the destruction of healthy, vital habitats for ourselves and the natural systems that we rely upon. This has to change. Increasing climate change—indeed, climate crisis—is requiring us to take a systems perspective in order to create healthy, more vital natural capital for which to support human life and activities. Some of these concerns include:
Habitat destruction and collapse
Topsoil depletion (which retards our ability to grow food)
Habitat alteration
Reduced biodiversity
Climate change (also known as global warming, global weirding, and climate crisis)
Ozone depletion
Fresh water supplies
Air pollution
Toxic pollutions (including carcinogens, acid rain, and the by-products of industrial and agricultural chemicals)
Over-concentration of substances (too much of even good materials, in too high a concentration, or in the wrong places, are just as toxic as harmful materials)
Resource depletion (such as oil or water)
Destruction of eco-services (such as the environment’s ability to clean air and water, and shade us from harmful ultraviolet rays)
For all of these issues that affect the environment, they all directly affect human health as much as they affect the health of plant, animal, and other life in nature.
The stress our activities have placed on the environment by our population has endangered not only specific species, but whole systems. Food, water, and energy are intimately interconnected, although our policies treat them as separate and unrelated. If you’re interested in the more details on this topic, a great place to start is the U.N. Millennium Assessment at www.millenniumassessment.org.
Social Vitality
To be considered sustainable and just, many designers require products to have a positive impact on the society they are serving (as well as those who helped create them). Product planning must embrace the concept of stakeholder involvement and incorporate social responsibility. Most people in the West are appalled and embarrassed when they find that products they’ve purchased were made with child or slave labor. Certainly, these aren’t values they promote in their own communities. However, most never bother to inquire whether these conditions exist for the goods they buy and merely wait for the media to inform them of what does or doesn’t reflect their social values. Consumers often rely on assumptions that companies they trust—especially, large, known companies—wouldn’t sell such goods, but this assumption is often a mistake.
For example, it’s not acceptable to most people for a disposable diaper to be considered sustainable if it’s dangerous or detrimental to the environment. However, it’s also not acceptable, for many, if that product is dangerous to the people who use it. To still more, it can’t be sustainable if those making it are at risk. Still others question whether the product itself truly fulfills a sustainable role in society.
… all communities and individuals have different social values.
To complicate this further, all communities and individuals have different social values. It’s impossible for a company to offer solutions that satisfy everyone. So they often don’t bother satisfying anything but the law. Smaller companies will sometimes specialize in offerings for customers with specific social values (such as religious restrictions), and our governments (at all levels) will often legislate certain standards that a majority can agree upon, but this is often not enough. We’ll see in the next chapter the myriad social issues in this space, and you’ll understand the difficulty organizations have trying to satisfy customers’ social concerns.
Social concerns are issues for sustainable designers—and there are a lot of them. Some affect corporate policy—either for our own firms or our clients. Others operate at the product, service, or event level and govern the design of such solutions. All require careful cooperation with a variety of experts in other roles, including executives, engineers, marketers, and managers of all types (hiring, operations, finance, sales, etc.).
These are also issues of vision and mission for a company—whether a design firm, a client, or the design department within a larger corporation. This is where designers must learn to be strategic and communicate to business leaders in business language. Designers are often disempowered—frequently by their own doing. When designers fail to understand the issues, vocabulary, and concerns of business leaders, they’re not equipped to participate
