ALISON McRAE

According to a recent report by the Circle Economy in the Netherlands, The Circularity Gap, the world economy is only nine per cent circular, with 67% of greenhouse gas emissions related to material management.

The circular economy, a move away from our current linear model of ‘make, take, dispose’, is about way more than merely recycling or reducing plastics consumption. It’s about a fundamental rethink across our whole economic model to unlock a trillion dollar opportunity for companies and the advances of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to create a future-proof society.

Oxford University economist Kate Raworth, author of Donut Economics, suggests we need industrial processes that work within the living cycles of the world, alongside distributed design. We need to mirror nature, with all processes being interlinked.

On a practical level, this means we need to encourage open source and modular design and systems, whilst also redesigning a distributed network of finance systems, regulation, industry and government support alongside this.

In Glasgow we boast a prestigious heritage of design and manufacturing right back to the mid-1700s when the Foulis brothers set up the world’s oldest design school, now known as the Glasgow School of Art. Their remit then was to transform innovations of the 18th century Industrial Revolution into useful products desired by consumers.

Janice Kirkpatrick of Graven and her many peers in the city are already instrumental in designing change across products, services and buildings. Design goes considerably further than the creation of ‘pretty things’, with our engineering and digital tech design businesses also breaking new ground in a circular way.

For example, Scottish Leather Group Ltd, the UK’s largest manufacturer of leather, has a global footprint with design and digital technology at its heart and has been widely recognised for its circular and zero waste practices.

We are at a crossroads for a new pioneering and extraordinary age of design in which innovation can solve some of our world’s biggest problems, and alternative products and systems can alter how we live and go about our business.

The question now is around how we create the right enabling conditions for our outstanding design talent here in Glasgow and Scotland to bring a new perspective to tackle some of these systemic economic issues? We cannot continue as we have been doing.

A design-led approach, with nature as our mentor, is one significant way to quickly effect the changes we most desperately need.

Alison McRae is senior director at Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.