Cultural and technological shifts. Societal and environmental drifts. As we come to terms with the impacts of our own doings, design progressively evolves across contexts and temporalities. What will tomorrow’s objects and spaces be made of? Will form, fabrication and experience follow intention? And can design foster mutualistic relationships within the natural world? Solely focusing on designing the new, however, is unsustainable. While navigating the traps of anthropocentricity and technological solutionism, there is also a need to ground design in the pluriversality of human and nonhuman realities.

Ten design strategies for circular and regenerative futures

Today, design typically follows a linear and extractive process that relies on global supply chains to create objects, environments and experiences that are convenient for humans. This has led to a disconnection between humans and living systems as well as climatic and environmental degradation.

Circular and regenerative design approaches, however, offer relevant strategies to challenge the utilitarian view of nature as a limitless resource for human activity while supporting creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Building on existing knowledge and practice, here are ten design strategies to advance circular and regenerative transitions.

Ten design strategies for circular and regenerative futures

Building on existing knowledge and practice, here are ten design strategies to advance circular and regenerative transitions.

1. Rethink current paradigms. Imagine alternatives. Unlock regenerative potentials. Use alternative resources and resource traceability tools. Design policy innovations.

2. Redesign for disassembly and/or decay. Reduce resource consumption through advanced manufacturing (e.g., digital and biofabrication). Use mono-materials where possible. Lower energy consumption.

3. Refuse. Reduce consumption. Incentivise behavioural change. Adopt degrowth business models.

4. Reuse instead of replacing.

5. Repair instead of discarding.

6. Restore to extend lifecycle. Retrofit to improve performance and experience.

7. Repurpose. Revive resources through upcycling.

8. Recover resources through relevant collecting, sorting and processing systems.

9. Rot (decay) organic materials through home or industrial composting.

10. Rest resources for future use.

    Cite this framework: "Olivier Cotsaftis (2023). Ten Circular and Regenerative Design Strategies. Author's website, accessed [Month Day, Year], https://futureensemble.co/."

Designing conditions for coexistence

The mutualistic entanglements of the non-mechanical, non-digital systems we live in are often overlooked. Biologically speaking, and as we experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, humanity isn’t the natural master over the broader ecological system, but is inherently a part of, and bound to it.

In this context, more-than-human design is an emerging approach that transcends the human perspective to advance mutualism across the various kingdoms of life. Rather than speculatively redistributing agency to nonhuman collaborators, however, it should be seen as a practice that seeks to construct conditions capable of supporting the coexistence of living species with other living and nonliving things.

Designing conditions for coexistence

More-than-human design is an emerging approach that transcends the human perspective to advance mutualism across the various kingdoms of life. Rather than speculatively redistributing agency to nonhuman collaborators, however, it should be seen as a practice that seeks to construct conditions capable of supporting the coexistence of living species with other living and nonliving things.

Beyond binaries: New relationships

Our relationship with nature is rather binary. We either want to exploit it or save it. None of this is beneficial in the long term. What we perhaps should recognise is that nature is not an outsider.