27 Jan 2023
When it comes to the climate crisis, it has become increasingly apparent that our responsibility as a society is to maximize both renewable resources and human capital to combat the glaring challenges. Though they can appear redundant, intimidating, and complicated, by upholding the vision of an environment that is protected and considered, it is possible to use those resources and capital to design through fair, sustainable, and circular means.
This year, as part of the Make it Circular Challenge, What Design Can Do (WDCD), an international organisation seeking to accelerate a transition to a sustainable, fair and just society through the power of design, is asking, “How can design make a circular future more accessible and attractive to all?” Circularity is the framework by which we can think about the after, while in the present, and alter the way we live and collectively take care of our planet.
WDCD’s global Make it Circular Challenge calls on creatives to channel the sometimes inevitable frustration of living in spaces of overconsumption, overproduction, and excessive waste, into climate innovations driven by design. Participants will submit proposals for the chance to win €10.000 in funding and a development program that will help realize the project.
We are excited to announce that ATÖLYE Co-CEO Engin Ayaz, and Head of Sustainability Gülin Ölçer will play a role in the Make It Circular Challenge. As they assess candidates and projects, Engin as a jury member and Gülin as part of the selection committee, they’ll bring forth their shared passion with ATÖLYE for impact-focused and community-driven innovation to this salient dialogue. Making circular decisions related to what we eat, what we buy, what we wear, how we package, and what we build, can propel all of us to revitalize and reuse while positioning nature as something to preserve rather than abuse.
Being a part of the Make it Circular Challenge means being a part of a collective shift towards a forward-thinking circular society. ATÖLYE believes vehemently in the power of collaboration in an age of individualism, creative problem-solving in an age of solely analytical thinking and long-term value creation in an age of short-termism.
It’s time we reframe the way we live. Together, we can reclaim the responsibility of designing for a liveable future, by avoiding waste in the present, and embracing the power of circularity.
Learn more about What Design Can Do and the Make it Circular Challenge here. Apply by the 31st of January!