VISUAL FIELD NOTES Global Challenges & Solutions
INDEX: Design to Improve LifeÂŽ
About
The history What’s in your hands right now is the compilation of global research performed by the team at INDEX: Design to Improve Life® to gather insight into the world’s biggest challenges and best solutions.
We chose to use these field notes as visuals are processed 60.000 times faster than text, and studies show that you remember only 10% of what you hear and 20% of what you read, but 80% of what you see. (* Source: www.dailyinfographic.com)
INDEX: Design to Improve Life ® is a Danish based nonprofit organization with global reach. We Inspire, Educate and Engage in the design of sustainable solutions to global challenges.
The data We are well aware that the data compiled is in no way scientific. The amount of data is too small and the selection of sources is limited to the individual desires of the interviewer.
INDEX: Design to Improve Life® was founded in 2001 on the base of global research. The first year after founding the organization, the two founders talked to 1.000 people from all walks of life, from all over the world. This initial research coined our credo Design to Improve Life; informed us on the state of design; established our international network; provided us with insight into global challenges and sustainable solutions, and the role of design within these areas. Since 2002, similar research processes have been repeated informally on an ongoing basis as our main strategy to guide our work. Twice, in 2009 and now in 2016, we formally conducted the process to inform the renewal of the INDEX: Design to Improve Life® strategy. The process In the early summer of 2016, over the course of three months, all members of the INDEX: Design to Improve Life® team gathered new insight from 141 people from 30 countries, covering all continents. The insight was provided through interviews and conversations, through reading, watching, listening and attending events. The sources were identified based on both personal and professional interests of the individual team member. Our main questions were: ‘What are the main current global challenges?’ and ‘What are the best solutions to global challenges you have seen recently?’ The reporting To report on the many findings we opted for visualization instead of the written word. We opted for visual field notes comparable to the ones used by anthropologists and ethnographers while working in the field. 2
Likewise, the data is interlinked, has crossing points, is complex and is difficult to place in a single box. Many of the people we talked to cannot even be classified by something as seemly simple as nationality. Many of them hold dual citizenship or live and work far from the multiple countries they call home. Similarly, many of the people we talked to are also hard to classify in terms of profession. Many work in multiple sectors, cross sectors and are very often in professions far from their original education. In the same way, the challenges and the solutions they identified are complex, put together by several minor challenges or solutions, some come from very personal experiences and others come from precise professional knowledge. We listened to all of it. And, we hope that you will allow us the power of curation and interpretation. Terms ·· Challenges: The Challenges, as worded by sources. ·· Groups of Challenges: The groups that the Challenges are sorted into. Some Challenges are unrelated to other Challenges - they constitute a Group of Challenges themselves. ·· Solutions: The Solutions, as worded by sources. ·· Groups of Solutions: The groups the individual Solutions are sorted into. Some Solutions are unrelated to other Solutions - they constitute a Group of Solutions themselves. ·· Sectors: The groups of professions our sources are sorted into.
What we found
Challenges We gained renewed insight from 141 people (sources) from 14 different professional sectors in 30 countries covering all continents. The 141 responders identified 244 different Challenges, which we clustered into 54 Groups of Challenges. The 54 Groups of Challenges our sources identified cover 16 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2015, 193 countries of the UN General Assembly agreed on these 17 SDGs based on the pressing global challenges that the world would collectively work to solve. Out of the 54 Groups of Challenges identified by our sources, 23 have direct relation to the SDGs, while 31 groups are unrelated. (Unrelated meaning that the challenges are not mentioned in the name of the SDG or in the associated targets.) We consider challenges related to SDGs well known by the global community, and with efforts to solve them already put in place. Challenges not related to the SDGs can either be considered as not yet recognized by the global community and having few or no global efforts put in place to solve them, or they can obviously be of less importance. Nevertheless, there appears to be some clear important messages conveyed when examining the groups of identified challenges that are unrelated to the SDGs.
The most important messages are: ·· The current global refugee crisis and its underlying causes are of major concern. ·· Data security and the issues of mass surveillance are dominant concerns among many and needs global attention. ·· Mechanisms, collaborations and instruments in the investment sector are of concern, and the sector is widely perceived as lacking the power to innovate to meet the needs of contemporary society. The sector is lacking responsibility and is being too slow to respond to the new markets within sustainable and triple bottom line investments. ·· The discrepancy between the exponential growth of computer power and the human brain is causing unforeseen concerns regarding education and job security in the future. ·· Distrust in politicians, post-factual society, willingly conveyed by the global media, and a general lack of democracy could have severe implications for all democratic structures. ·· Possibly related to the above: fear, apathy and hopelessness are also common global observations and are in need of a response. ·· Likewise, a mounting wave of hate is observed and incidences perceived as related to hate such as terrorism and extremism are of major concern. ·· Adding to fear and hate, a lack of empathy, trust, and tolerance, as well as the perception of growing egoism and greed are of concern. ·· Finally, escalating segregation and a lack of social cohesion. In general, if segregation and a lack of cohesion become dominant, solutions for all of the above concerns will be difficult to reach.
Solutions We also talked with our sources about solutions. We asked: ‘What are the best solutions to global challenges you have seen recently?’ First of all, it is interesting to see that the 154 identified solutions are greatly outnumbered by the 244 global challenges identified by our sources. This might correspond with fear being identified as one of the main challenges,
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which could be interpreted as an overwhelming or even a paralyzing obstacle to the identification of good solutions. This again might relate to the fact that post-factual society in this report is considered a severe challenge. For instance, the current widespread fear of terrorism in Western Europe is relatively unjustified. According to Global Terrorisme Database van Start, there were over 2.800 deaths caused by terrorist attacks in Western Europe from 1971 to 1980, compared to a little over 300 deaths from 2006 to 2015. Now, lets turn to the solutions. Our 141 sources identified a total of 154 different solutions that we clustered into 35 different groups. Some sources identified several solutions, some identified one or a few, and some did not identify any. The solutions our sources identified varied from overall concepts bordering philosophy to concrete tangible designs. The Groups of Solutions most often identified are: Farming & Agricultural Innovation; Community, Movements & Shared Spaces; Education & Research; Health & Care Innovation; Sharing & Digital Economy & Platforms; Investment Sector Innovation; Policy, Politicians & Democracy Innovation; Food Innovation; Architectural & Urban Innovation; System Design Innovation; Pollution Solution Innovation; Media & Communication Innovation and Data Treatment & Security Innovation. Some solutions, like Education & Research and Health & Care Innovation, already have established paths towards solving global challenges. Education is not only included in the Declaration of Human Rights but is also the biggest social mobility factor of all. Innovation within health and care is a straightforward, often highly tangible, path to provide better life for society – led globally by NPOs, NGOs and large industries alike. However, in the identified Groups of Solutions we also see new pathways towards solving global challenges. These are: ·· Farming & Agricultural Innovation and the related group Food Innovation are topping the list of solutions. The solutions include vertical farming, precision farming, crowd farming and farming without soil or with the use of desalinated seawater, as well as the use 4
of robotics for farming. Within Food Innovation the solutions focus on artificial meat, lab-grown meat, and apps – for instance enabling people to source food in urban and rural areas alike. ·· Many sources see innovation in the investment sector as a key path towards overall solutions. The most dominant innovation solutions include new communities of young ambitious entrepreneurs challenging the way tomorrow’s ventures are built; initiatives inspired by effective altruism; and investments vehicles created for specific user groups such as young entrepreneurs or female entrepreneurs. ·· Innovation within the area of policy, politicians and democracy is also high on the list of solutions. Dominant trends among the solutions are online platforms and movements such as Decocracy.com, which has helped over a million American citizens take action for the issues and candidates they care about, or global web movement Avaaz.org, which has brought people-powered politics to decision-making everywhere. Likewise, The People’s Political Festivals that are emerging in many countries and utilizing new dialogue forms are seen as having significant potential. Finally, design-based policy development appears to be finally gaining some momentum. ·· The term ‘sharing economy’ has been widely used since 2010; referring to the peer-to-peer based sharing of goods and services. The sharing economy has brought new economic benefits to those sharing their belongings, for those borrowing belongings, and last but certainly not least, for those creating the online sharing platforms. However, the sharing economy and its’ platforms are now being seen as part of the solution to other significant global challenges. The trend has driven the creation of new jobs for base and middle-income earners through knowledge and skill sharing, and has also addressed the housing and other basic needs of refugees. If we look at the sharing economy in this way, it might provide us with a new way forward. Although the sector is mature, it is still unknown to some 80% of all Americans, and therefore has room for improvement and new applications.
Looking across the identified solutions from different viewpoints, you can see that: Females identified most solutions within Health & Care Innovation and males identified most within Education & Research. The only two Sectors identifying the biggest challenges as well as the best solutions within their own sector is Food, Farming & Agriculture and the Investment & Economics. Investment is the second biggest challenge identified, but is only ranked in sixth place when it comes to good solutions, taking in the input from all sectors. The challenges related to feelings such as hate, fear and empathy are very poorly reflected in the solutions space. While the Asia and Oceania regions see the best solutions within Health & Care Innovation, Africa and Europe find them in the area of Education & Research, and North America within Policy, Politicians & Democracy Innovation.
als or new construction models. For example, the Eastgate Centre - a mid-rise office complex in Harare, Zimbabwe, stays cool without air conditioning and only uses 10% of the energy of a conventional building of the same size. How? It is designed like termite mounds. However, inspiration from the natural world, particularly plants, appears to be rapidly moving into other sectors. Now, we are seeing it grow into the areas of strategic design, process design and communication design. Stefano Mancuso is the founder of the study of plant neurobiology and directing the Laboratory for Plant Neurobiology in Milan. He talks about a new biological revolution and a global ‘greenternet’, which indicates that Steve Jobs’ prediction, that the biggest innovations of the 21st century would be at the intersection of biology and technology, might actually come to fruition.
Other trends have come to light. Of these, the most important might be the vehicles for enabling solutions.
Before you turn the page from this introduction, read what Stefano Mancuso tells us about plants:
First if all, many sources - faced with the challenge of Computers vs. Humans - point to a growing need for much stronger education in the humanities, as more sophisticated knowledge of what it is to be human, is needed to address the challenge.
“Plants are dynamic and highly sensitive organisms that actively and competitively forage for limited resources, both above and below ground; they accurately compute their circumstances, use sophisticated cost-benefit analysis, and take defined actions to mitigate and control diverse environmental insults. Plants are capable of a refined recognition of self and non-self and are territorial in behavior. This new view sees plants as information processing organisms with complex communication throughout the individual plant. Plants are as sophisticated in behavior as animals but their potential has been masked because it operates on time scales many orders of magnitude less than that operating in animals.”
Secondly, for years, tech has been the main driver of many solutions, enabling platforms, distribution and unforeseen innovation. Tech is obviously still a driver and is now permeating every corner of innovation, but the means are changing. Artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) are no longer a far reached dream in the minds of visionaries, but are rapidly becoming reality and are being applied widely within the health sector. VR is used for healing veterans by giving them the chance to reenact and become desensitized to traumatic situations; AI is being used to analyze emotions and sentiments for improved products and services, and the tech-driven hacking of human memory is being used to solve mental health issues.
Maybe they can inspire us to create better solutions in the future.
But, a new driver of innovation is emerging. That driver is plants. Biomimicry has been known for centuries and the term, coined in the 1950’s, means to mirror life. Until now, nature has often inspired concrete solutions such as new materi5
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
INDEX: Award categories
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Infographics
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Our sources
Names 3D Print Canal House · Abigail Nobel · Akshay Sethi · Alan More · Alex Steffen · Alice Rawsthorn · Alaa Barkey · Anders Sælan · Andrew Mwanda · Antony Dapiran · Arthur Woods · Aurelia Albert · Babara Kux · Barry Katz · Biennale Di Venezia · Binit Vasa · Bjarke Ingels · Brenda Wiederhold · Brian Eno · Carlos Saba · Carolina Zell · Caroline Falconer · Chiu, Wu Su · Chris Luebkeman · Claus Skytte · Dan Ariely · Daniel Hirsch · De Ceuvel · Devin Cook · Eisuke Tachikawa · Emma Lindgren · Emma Loades · Erik Brynjolfson · Ethan Zuckerman · Eva Muraya · Ezio Manzini · Flemming Besenbacher · Franco Sacchi · Frederique Bedos · Future of Food Summit · Gabi Zijderveld · Gary Haugen · Gunnsteinn Björnsson · Harvard Business Review · Helen Marquard · Henrik Føhns · Henrik Saxe · Henrik Werdelin · Janos Flosser · Jay Silver · Jennifer Windt · Jens Martin Skibsted · Jimmy Nelson · Johan Galtung · Johnatan Howard-Brand · Johnny Svendborg · Julia Shaw · Kaja Misvær · Kato Hiroshi · Kei Wakabayashi · Kim Escherich · Knud Vilby · Kristian Andreasen · Kuo, Li Chun · Kurt Schmidinger · Lars Thøgersen · Lars Tvede · Laura Connelly · Lene Damand Lund · Lene Tanggaard · Lisa Dyson · Marielle van de Meer · Marika Svardstrom · Mark Wiederhold · Mikkel Westergaard · Muhammad Yunus · National Bank of Denmark · Onica Lekuntwane · Per Agger Nielsen · Per H. Mikkelsen · Pernille Bærensen · Pernille Tranberg · Peter Sunde · Raul Pomares · Richard Coulson · San Francisco: Climate change strategy · Sasha Sankova · Shakil Khan · Sharon, anonymous taxi driver · Shiao, Shu-Bih · Sissel Hoel · Sonny Kapoor / ALFI Conference · State of the world’s Plants · Steen Hildebrandt · Stefano Mancuso · Sumu · Suresh Sethi · Sustainia & Silja · Suzana · Herculano- Houzel · Talmage Cooley · The Greennest Gallery + Let it Grow · The Next Web Conference · Thomas Metzinger · Thomas Piketty · Tomas Rawlings · Topher Wilkins · Torben Chrintz · Troels Schönfeldt · Vala Afshar · Zakia Elvang
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Countries Argentina · Australia · Bangladesh · Botswana · Brazil · Canada · Danmark · Finland · France · Germany · Hong Kong · Iceland · India · Ireland · Italy · Japan · Kenya · Luxemburg · Madagascar · Netherlands · Nigeria · Norway · Russia · South Africa · Sweden · Switzerland · Taiwan · Uganda · United Kingdom · United States of America
Gender 39 % Female · 61 % Male
Their professional sectors 01.
Arts & Architecture
02.
Consumer Goods
03.
Design
04.
Education & Research
05.
Energy
06.
Entrepreneur
07.
Food, Farming & Agriculture
08.
Health & Care – Somatic & Mental
09.
Investment & Economics
10.
Media & Communication
11.
Nature, Biodiversity, Climate & Soil
12.
Non Profit, NGO & PPP
13.
Policy, Government, Law & Human Rights
14.
Tech & Digitalization
9
Groups of Challenges and relation to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
Groups of Challenges
01. Aid Systems are Broken
02. Cities vs. Rural Areas
03. Climate Change
04. Collaboration
05. Computers vs. Humans
06. Corruption, Crime & Law Enforcement
07. Cultural Mindsets
08. Data Security & Mass Surveillance 09.
Design Principles & Prioritization within the Tech World
10. Developing vs. Developed World
11. Education
12. Empowerment
13. Energy Supply
14. Farming & Agriculture
15. Fear, Apathy & Hopelessness
16. Food & Food Waste
17. Globalization
18. Hate, Terrorism & Extremism
19. Health & Care - Somatic & Mental
20. Housing Shortage
21. Peace
22. Inequality
23. Infrastructure is Broken
24. Interlinked Multiple Callenges
25. Investment - Mechanisms, Collaborations & Instruments
26. Job Creation in a Digital World
27. Lack of Beauty
28. Lack of Collaboration, Conectivity & Collectivity 10
Relation to SDG
01.
02.
Not mentioned in SDG SDG 11. Sustainable Cities and communities
03.
SDG 13. Climate Action
04.
Not mentioned in SDG
05.
06.
Not mentioned in SDG SDG 16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
07.
Not mentioned in SDG
08.
Not mentioned in SDG
09.
10.
11.
Not mentioned in SDG SDG 10. Reduced Inequalities SDG 5. Gender Equality
12.
Not mentioned in SDG
13.
SDG 7. Affordable and Clean Energy
14.
15.
16.
SDG 2. Zero Hunger Not mentioned in SDG SDG 2. Zero Hunger
17.
Not mentioned in SDG
18.
Not mentioned in SDG
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
SDG 3. Good Health and Well-being SDG 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities SDG 16. Peace, Justice SDG 10. Reduced Inequalities SDG 9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
24.
Not mentioned in SDG
25.
Not mentioned in SDG
26.
SDG 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
27.
Not mentioned in SDG
28.
Not mentioned in SDG 11
Âť Groups of Challenges
29. Lack of Empathy, Tolerance, Trust + Egoism, Greed
30. Leadership Failure
31. Loneliness
32. Media & Communication Issues
33. Migration
34. Nature, Biodiversity & Soil
35. Over Comsumption & Consumerism 36.
Policy, Politicians, Democracy - Distrust & Post-Factual Society
37. Pollution
38. Population Growth
39. Poverty
40. Refugee Crisis
41. Rejection of Modernism
42. Religious Disparity
43. Responsibility
44. Sanitation
45. Segregation & Lack of Social Cohesion
46. Stability
47. Sustainability
48. System Design is Broken
49. Traffic
50. Urbanization
51. War
52. Waste
53. Weak Understanding of Future
54. Work Conditions & Culture
12
Relation to SDG
29.
30..
Not mentioned in SDG Not mentioned in SDG
31..
Not mentioned in SDG
32.
Not mentioned in SDG
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
SDG 10. Reduced Inequalities SDG 15. Life on Land SDG 12. Responsible Consumption and Production Not mentioned in SDG SDG 12. Responsible Consumption and Production Not mentioned in SDG SDG 1. No Poverty Not mentioned in SDG Not mentioned in SDG Not mentioned in SDG Not mentioned in SDG SDG 6. Clean Water and Sanitation Not mentioned in SDG SDG 16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions SDG 15. Life on Land Not mentioned in SDG SDG 9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure SDG 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities SDG 16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions SDG 12. Responsible Consumption and Production Not mentioned in SDG SDG 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
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Groups of Solutions and relation to INDEX: Award categories
Groups of Solutions
01. Aid – New System Design
02. Architectural & Urban Innovation 03.
Beauty - a New Form Language Inspired by Nature
04. Climate Change Addressed in New Ways
05. Community, Movements & Shared Spaces
06. Creativity
07. Data Treatment & Security Innovation
08. Education & Research
09. Energy Innovation
10. Entrepreneurship - New Ways
11. Farming & Agricultural Innovation
12. Food Innovation
13. Health & Care Innovation
14. Infrastructure Innovation
15. Internet - Wider Distribution
16. Investment Sector Innovation
17. Leadership
18. Local Solutions
19. Media & Communication Innovation
20. New Generations Consciousness
21. New Markets
22. New Material
23. Non Profit, NGO, PPP Activities
24. Policy, Politicians, Democracy - Innovation
25. Pollution Solution Innovation
26. Refugee Crisis Innovation
27. Sharing & Digital Economy & Platforms ďżź
28. Solutions Promoting & Implementing Biodiversity 14
Relation to INDEX: Award categories
01.
Community
02.
Community
03.
04.
05.
Cross categories Community Community
06.
Cross categories
07.
Cross categories
08.
Community
09.
Community
10.
11.
Work
Work
12. Body
13.
Body
14.
Community
15.
16.
Community Work
17.
Community
18.
Cross categories
19.
20.
Community Cross categories
21.
Work
22.
Body
23.
Community
24.
Community
25. ďżź
26.
ďżź 27.
28.
Home Community Home Community 15
» Groups of Solutions
29. Sustainable Solutions for Home Decoration 
30. System Design Innovation
31. Tech Innovation
32. Traditional Knowledge as Outset for Innovation 
33. Transport Innovation
34. Twin-Track Approach: Multilateral & Grassroot Level 
35. We’ instead of ‘Me’
36. Work Conditions & Culture Innovation
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Relation to INDEX: Award categories
 29.
30.
31.
 32.
33.
 34.
35.
36.
Home Cross categories Cross categories Work Community Cross categories Cross categories Work
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Data Top 13 Groups of Ghallenges 01.
18
Farming & Agriculture
% 30%
02. Investment – Mechanisms, Collaborations & Instruments
22%
03. Education
22%
04. Food & Food Waste
17%
05. Health & Care – Somatic & Mental
17%
06. Lack of Empathy, Tolerance, Trust + Egoism, Greed
17%
07. Climate Change
17%
08. Sustainability
15%
09. Policy, Politicians, Democracy – Distrust & Post-Factual Society
15%
10.
Computers vs. Humans
15%
11.
Nature, Biodiversity & Soil
13%
12.
Job Creation in a Digital World
13%
13.
Hate, Terrorism & Extremism
11%
Top 13 Groups of Solutions 01.
Farming & Agricultural Innovation
% 37%
02. Community, Movements & Shared Spaces
37%
03. Education & Research
37%
04. Health & Care Innovation
37%
05. Sharing & Digital Economy & Platforms
24%
06. Investment Sector Innovation
24%
07. Policy, Politicians, Democracy - Innovation
24%
08. Food Innovation
18%
09. Architectural & Urban Innovation
13%
10.
System Design Innovation
10%
11.
Pollution Solution Innovation
10%
12.
Media & Communication Innovation
8%
13.
Data Treatment & Security Innovation
8%
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Data Continent top Challenges & Solutions 01.
Continent
Top Group of Challenges
Asia & Oceania Africa South America
• Health & Care - Somatic & Mental • Education • Lack of Empathy, Tolerance, Trust + Egoism, Greed • Investment - Mechanisms, Collaborations & Instruments • Farming & Agriculture
North America Europe
Sector top Challenges & Solutions 02. Sector Arts & Architecture Consumer Goods Design Education Energy Entrepreneurs Food, Farming & Agriculture Health & Care - Somatic & Mental Investment & Economics Media & Communication Nature, Biodiversity, Climate & Soil Non Profit, NGO & PPP Policy, Government, Law & Human Rights Tech & Digitalization
Top Group of Challenges • • • • • • • •
Corruption, Crime & Law Enforcement Inequality Education Education Farming & Agriculture Computers vs. Humans Farming & Agriculture Investment - Mechanisms, Collaborations & Instruments • Investment - Mechanisms, Collaborations & Instrument • Media & Communication Issues • Farming & Agriculture • Policy, Politicians, Democracy Distrust & Post-Factual Society • Inequality • Data Security & Mass Surveillance
Gender top Challenges & Solutions 03. Gender Female Male
20
Top Group of Challenges • Education • Inequality
Top Group of Solutions • Health & Care Innovation • Education & Research • Not enough data • Policy, Politicians, Democracy - Innovation • Education & Research
Top Group of Solutions • • • • • • • •
Traditional Knowledge as Outset for Innovation Policy, Politicians, Democracy - Innovation Community, Movements & Shared Spaces Health & Care Innovation Farming & Agricultural Innovation Sharing & Digital Economy & Platforms Farming & Agricultural Innovation Health & Care Innovation
• Investment Sector Innovation • Sharing & Digital Economy & Platforms + Media & Communication Innovation • Pollution Solution Innovation • System Design Innovation (and others) • Policy, Politicians & Democracy Innovation • Education & Research
Top Group of Solutions • Health & Care Innovation • Education & Research
21
Sector
Challenges
Arts & Architecture Peripheries · Lack of architectural frameworks flexible enough to embrace future · Hate · Lack of reasonable care homes for disabled young people · We often don’t know how to grasp the future · Fear towards change · Energy safety related to atomic power and atomic contaminated water from atomic plants · Corruption · Consumerism · The need of new methods for cleaning the soil · Uninclusive mindsets in Japan · Interlinked challenges on all fronts · Migration · Segregation on many different levels · Lack of collective creative mindset · Crime · Violence · Aging society juxtaposed to expensive healthcare · Delivery of healthy buildings (not just health buildings) · Housing shortage · Natural disasters · Pollution · Religious disparity · Sanitation · New sustainable materials for the current building techniques · Segregation in urban planning – cities aren’t being effectively and sustainably developed · War · Waste · Workplace: how do we get things done in a future of specialization without a shared foothold
22
Solutions Forensic architecture – architecture applied to war crime incidents · Prevent traumas from built enviroment by using landscape inside healthcare buildings · Creating shared spaces for communities · Young Care – helping young Australians with high care needs live with choice, independence and dignity · Pragmatic Utopia: go build, create, do what you imagine · Rely on the creator within · Agriculture without soil, like film framing - hydroponic · IT distribution in Africa · New generations consciousness · Organic pollution clean up · Car sharing · New work related collaboration utilizing traditional techniques · New work systems combining simple materials, structural ingenuity and unskilled labor · New work systems in combination with traditional building methods · We’ instead of ‘me’
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
Sector
Challenges
Consumer Goods
42
Inequality, especially regarding the digital divide · Sustainability crises globally · Pollution from fashion industry · Working poor · A few dominating, very rich and greedy families · Developed/ developing world balance · Food security for all · Healthcare for all · Peace keeping · Population growth
Solutions Cosmic Research Initiative – about the influence of social media on rural communities · India’s Digital Divide Initiative – distributing internet to every doorstep · Growing sustainability market · Fish leather as a replacement for fashion material · Education costs covered by tax money from marijuana / Colorado · Transparent tax systems
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
Sector
Challenges
Design Enviromental issues · Too many people to feed on earth · Crises of social cohesion · Empathy and egocentrism · Inequality – gender · Education · Guns in USA · Sustainability, especially within the design professions · Education · Inequallity in access to opportunities · Greed and egoism · Sustainability catastrophe globally · Our lifestyle is not sustainable · The ability of humans to change practices to address climate change · Infrastructure in ‘the old world’ is broken and out-dated · Lack of connection on all levels · Inequality, gender · Continous development in Africa · Education for all · Sustainability globally · Interlinked multiple crises · Short-sighted profit · Individual attention on covering own needs · Migration of human population · Sanitation in India
54
Solutions Bottom Up/Top Down circles in cities like Seoul and Barcelona · National People’s meetings in Denmark and Estonia · New network connecting people around everyday problems · Education and research · Education for women · Hygiene solutions for women and girls · Personal diagnostic tools · Initiatives creating access to knowledge for everyone · Public funding for female entrepreneurs · Local solutions · Non-institutional drivers of development · New political movements · New tech creating job and new fields of work · New systemic solutions · B-Corps · Better work/life balance
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
Sector
Challenges
Education & Research Trust · Education in a tech-driven world · Collaboration towards the same goal · Refugees · Crime · How to implement design thinking in curriculum · How to be creative while learning specific things · Making candidates relevant for job markets · Youth Unemployment as a function of the generation gap in tech in education
78
Solutions Solutions with community creation · Api-Palu, an anti-malaria drug treatment · Exatype – software that enables determination of HIV patients’ responsiveness to ARV · Aim for the Moon – a community of ambitious entrepreneurs challenging the way tomorrow’s ventures are built · Airbnb for refugee
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
Sector
Challenges
Energy War · Energy: where will sustainable energy come from in the future? · Modern agriculture takes up a lot of land / clearing of rain forests · How to feed the increasing global population · Sustainable agriculture · Energy: how do we store renewable energy efficiently?
92
Solutions Plentiful energy · Sun, wind and earth energy solutions · Supercharged carbon recyclers that produce much faster and in limited spaces, e.g. vertical agriculture · Using carbon recyclers to grow food and cultivate consumer products · Using carbon recyclers to grow food and cultivate consumer products · Ambitious energy policy
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
Sector
Challenges
Entrepreneurs
100
Threaths from technology and robotics · Climate change · Too fast implementation of artificial intelligence · Mental illness · Lack of relation between nature and humans · Entrepreneurs challenged with finding good teams
Solutions Sharing economy initiatives ¡ Ciudad Saludad
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
Sector
Challenges
Food, Farming & Agriculture Local and wild food should is only for ‘insiders’ · Nutrient pollution · Too much wasted food · Foodwaste · Farmers know too little about the actual size of consumption · From unsustainable to sustainable agriculture · Old-fashioned ways of farming · Farming – unsustainable production and aging farmers · Foodwaste · Kids know too little about the food outside their window · Biodynamic food is not sustainable · The environmental and ethical issues of meat production · The environmental and ethical issues of meat production · Mono-culture agriculture · A rapidly growing global population
110
Solutions Educate kids in local and wild food as part of schooling · Azotic Technologies – natural nitrogen technology that provides a sustainable solution to fertiliser overuse · Crowd-farming - have crops planted on demand, monitored remotely and direct delivery · Crowd-farming · Precision Agriculture · Reduce livestock production · Young and innovative farmers to enter the area · Robotics in agriculture · Bump Mark – a bio-reactive food expiry label · City Harvest – app enabling you to find food in nature · Impossible food/artificial meat · Lab-grown meat · Plant alternatives · Solutions promoting and implementing biodiversity
111
112
113
114
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Challenges
Health & Care – Somatic & Mental
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Hate · Increase in children and youngsters to consult psychiatry · Stress and medical industry · Lack of resources to address increasing need for psychiatry among children and young · Lack of money allocation to VR healthcare innovation · Climate change · Refugees · Tolerance for diversity
Solutions Social interaction, cutting edge tech education and teamwork to address social/cultural conflicts · New diagnosis definitions · AI emotion and sentiment analysis · Hacking memory to solve mental health issues · Solutions where tech substitutes medicine · Virtual reality used to replace part of medicine intake · VR therapy treatment for mental and somatic health · Effective altruism · Airbnb for refugee · Space X and reusable rocket
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Challenges
Investment & Economics Rapid developing technology is hard to understand · Worldwide education systems · Poverty · Impact investors address a limited amount of challenges · Difficulties in raising funding for innovation projects · Investment choices for future energy · Broken financial systems only aimed at financial benefits for a few people · Current concept of ‘growth’ and measurement of progress · Investors must clean up their acts · Impact investors need new financial vehicles that help investors and inventors connect · Inequality from increased globalization · Traffic systems and overflow · How do we make digital economy advantages for all including base and middle income groups · Growing divide between rural areas and city areas · Climate · Mismatch between demand and supply of competencies in skills education · Fear · Decrease of globalization · Inequality · Inequality/the economic system · Inequality in general · Impact investing needs a common language in the space and talent drain/dilution · Impact investing suffers from talent drain/dilution · Matching problems with investors/entrepreneurs · The societal, meta implications of investing in i.e. the sharing economy · Not work for everybody · How to develop empathy skills for children and adults · Lack of caring – egoism · Selfishness regarding governing of own needs · Short-sighted leadership in politics and business · Too much consumption · Post-factual democracy · Too few resources
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Solutions Solutions where young people are empowered to make impact in their old communities · Education of kids to become entrepreneurs · Social businesses · Soil Health – solutions for soil health in the future · Invest in young people’s love and pride · Investment in sustainable energy soultions · Micro credits · Return to reality assessment · Emerging market and sustainability · Avaaz.org – a global web movement to bring people-powered politics to decision-making everywhere · The Singaporian ‘Negative tax’ · Digital economy · MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Competition – creating jobs in the digital area
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Challenges
Media & Communication Inequality · Wrong charitable solutions for Africa · Power to able to educate in Africa · Electricity supply in Africa · Global media obsession with bad news · Lack of sustainable thinking (more for less and faster) · Lack of longterm and strategic solutions · Empowerment · Demagogues · Climate change · Too much data to process · Electricity and power to enable knowledge distribution in Africa · Terrorism on many levels · Inequality between rich and poor · Interlinked multiple challenges · Building global audiences · How to reach your target group · Politicians are widely distrusted · Refugees crisis · Polarizing
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Solutions Profound new strategies for international aid organizations · Self-empowerment for developing countries communities vs. aid-equal level view · Medication and treatment development based on plants · Medication and treatment development based on plants · Epicenter - a startup community for innovative young entrepreneurs in Stockholm · New media in service of people · New media with hope · Welcome-app for refugees · Airbnb · Über · Sustainable solutions by IKEA · VR/AR, 3dPrinting, AI, Internet of Things, drones and robotics
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Sector
Challenges
Nature, Biodiversity, Climate & Soil Climate Change is not sufficiently addressed by profound changes in urban planning · Climate change is not sufficiently addressed by implementing tech in urban planning · Our enviroment was left a wasteland without beauty by the industrial age · Producing food for the global population · Biodynamic food is not sustainable · People in modern cities get stressed and depressed · How will we feed the world? · The need for an agricultural revolution · Get innovators and designers to work together across countries · Change agricultural pratice - agricultural revolution · 10% of plants are very sensitive to climate changes · Extinction of plants · Few areas important for biodiversity are protected · The future of soil · Zero waste in San Francisco
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Solutions Smart cities · A new language of beauty inspired by nature · Vertical gardens · Jellyfish Barge – a modular floating greenhouse for intensive cultivation, able to purify sea water using solar energy · Impossible food/artificial meat · Reconnection with nature through visits and education in national parks · Greenternet – global communication through plants · Tech/app picking up signals from trees enabling them to report if they are vulnerable to storms · Indoor Airplant Cleaning system · Plants as pollution removers · The Plant Bag – backpack producing fresh air for user through plants · Innovative green systems in all sectors · Next biological revolution
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Sector
Challenges
Non Profit, NGO, PPP Young people feel lonely and don’t care about each other · Food systems are broken · Inequality with access to products and technology between developed and developing world · Alleviating poverty · Human dimension of the Fourth Digital Revolution · Timing during humanitarian crises · Apathy · Objectification of others · Impunity for politicians · Organized hierarchy with decision making systems
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Solutions Student organizations that empower young students to make a difference in society · Lab-grown meat · Arida pneumonia diagnostic – accurate and easy-to-use respiratory rate counting for diagnosing pneumonia in children · Initiatives for new forms of leadership · Systemic solutions
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Sector
Challenges
Policy, Government, Law & Human Rights Law enforment for the poor · Migration from rural areas to big cities · Dying local villages · Loneliness among elderly people · Undignified death · Inequality · Creating stability in post-war areas · Misunderstanding of the objective of wars (to make better peace) · Only about 10% of (American) politicians have a website · Inequality in general · Lack of access to democractic activities · Climate Change · Fear · Widespread fear of the unknown · Globalism · Hate · Rise of extremism · Inequality · Failure of leadership · Liberal democracy · Rejection of modernism · Existing system design · Cyber warfare
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Solutions Solutions where law enforcement for the poor is integrated into aid/development initiatives · Creating well functioning local societies with sustainable production to attract young people and business · Engaging elderly people in restoring buildings, production and infrastructure · Solutions with community cohesion implications · Educating and engaging local community to let elderly die at home · Tesla Power Wall/new tech · Communication/mediation/empathy · Information-coordinationsyncronization between all stakeholders in war efforts · Moderation of media coverage, so it at least mirrors reality and does not create unneccesary fear · Democracy.com – helps you take action for the issues and candidates you care about · Good democracy is the solution to global challenges · New tech solutions to enforce democracy and participation · Rapid implementation of politics · Twin-Track Approach: multilateral and grassroot level
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Challenges
Tech & Digitalization Low-skilled workers pushed out of job market · Global warming · Communications Issue · Data security and mass surveillance · Lack of responsibility · Big firms control much more private data than we realize · Fight hopelessness / how to have effectiveness · Democracy in an exponential world · Education in an exponential world · Decrees in job growth due to digitalization · Data privacy · New concept of ‘job’ and ‘employee’ · The exponential growth of computers vs. the human brain · Democratization of Hardware · Digital Security · Illegal use of personal data · Understanding and prioritizing pressing needs · Focus on what really matters and give it time
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Solutions Build tech-embracing infrastructures · VR used to address climate change · Get involved as an activist · Initiatives with better data treatment · Strategy for online security: Fake-Lock-Block · Use encryption · Educate for sociality · Educate for the humanities in a world of exponential tech · Educate for the humanities in a world of exponential tech · Educate with creativity and empathy - humanities · Education - improve data-privacy skills · Education that foster entrepreneurship · Initiatives ensuring exponential learning · Make basic but new research · Nesta – an innovation charity that helps people and organizations bring great ideas to life Initiatives welcoming immigrants
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INDEX: Design to Improve Life® Fæstningens Materialgård, Building B Frederiksholms Kanal 30 1220 Copenhagen K Denmark designtoimprovelife.dk 2016 INDEX: Design to Improve Life® You are free to share and redistribute the material in any medium or format. However, you must quote us. The field notes are our interpretations of what our sources conveyed to us. Should any faults occur - we are to blame. 256
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Published on Dec 12, 2016
INDEX: Design to Improve Life® - Strategy Research 2016
