Design is also the way we behave at a meeting

By Louise Witt

Design is so much more than, for example, a chair. Design is also the way we behave at a meeting. It would be beneficial for us Danes to talk about this. Just as it would be beneficial for us to formulate a new Danish design policy.
This is what Lise Thomsen, head of the Creative Industries organized within Danish Industry (DI), says.
For several years she has emphasized the importance of a new national design policy under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs. She has promoted this vision through DI's Design Board, developing a concrete proposal in collaboration with all the other group members. 

From chairs to collaboration 

"We often think of design as a beautiful chair – i.e. product design," says Lise Thomsen, referring to the way Danish design has been perceived internationally since the famous golden age in the 1950s. 
"But design is also the underlying design methods. In Denmark we have a humanistic focus on the life quality of individuals, and we work together in a structured way to find the best solutions, while respecting the expertise of one another," she adds.
More than ever, we need to shed light on the stages leading up to the product manufacturing, points out Lise Thomsen. Why? DI's proposal for a new Danish design policy holds the answer: "80 percent of a product's environmental impact is caused by decisions made in the design phase," it states. 

Unique Danish dialogue  

The plastics industry in Denmark is a great example of how prior meetings can make a big difference to the final product. Lise Thomsen describes how the entire industry, plastic manufacturers as well as NGOs, came together a few years ago with the common environmental goal of significantly reducing the use of plastic. The result of all these meetings and extensive dialogue was a design guide that has made it a lot easier to design plastic for reuse and recycling. 
"It is a unique design process for Denmark, and this effort has affected the directives that have since been established by the EU," says Lise Thomsen.

A future with eco-directives 

Why is a new Danish design policy so important?

“Denmark is an internationally well-known design nation, but we haven’t developed a new national design policy since 2007. Sustainability is a theme that we need to consider on a national level. And then there are all the technological developments, including AI. How do we define design rights, for example, when AI is involved?” she asks.
As a concrete example in relation to the sustainable agenda, she points to the EU’s new directive on eco-design (ESPR). It means that future products must meet requirements throughout their entire life cycle, e.g. they must be repairable and upgradable. This means that all products will have a so-called “digital product passport”. 

Light on Danish experiences   

“Basically, the idea is to avoid constantly encouraging consumption. The products must be durable for a long time,” explains Lise Thomsen. 
A lot of Danish companies already practice this mindset.
“For example, a company like VOLA has stuck to their products for decades. Instead of just developing new designs, VOLA has focused on saving water and ensuring the repairability of the existing taps so that they can last for generations,” says Lise Thomsen. 
DI’s proposal for a new national design policy includes, among other things, a knowledge hub that collects and shares the Danish companies’ experiences with eco-design. Furthermore, it includes funding PhDs that combine circular economy and design and ideas for several different collaboration projects between academia and business.
However, small measures could prove to be beneficial, such as highlighting and promoting the present way of working in Denmark, not least the Danish culture of collaboration, states Lise Thomsen.