John Thackara, a leading British design expert and a global authority on innovation and sustainability, delivered a key seminar entitled Thriving in a no Growth Economy, at University College Dublin. His seminar was organised by UCD Innovation with the Institute of Designers in Ireland and took place as part of the Innovation Dublin 2012 festival with support from Interreg 4B Open Innovation Project.
| John Thackara |
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There is a growing worldwide movement which is examining how society can progress in a world with finite natural resources. In his seminar John discussed how ‘regeneration’ rather than ‘consumption’ design can enable society to thrive in a no growth economic setting.
For thirty years John Thackara has travelled the world in a search for stories about the practical steps taken by communities to realise a sustainable future. In his seminar John used these stories to start a conversation with attendees to outline opportunities individuals and organisations might take, right now, to get involved with ‘regeneration’ design.
John Thackara studied philosophy and trained as a journalist, before working for ten years as a book and magazine editor including editing the Design magazine for five years, modern culture editor of Harpers & Queen and design correspondent of The Guardian.
John was subsequently Director of Research at the Royal College of Art (1989-1992) and was the first director of the Netherlands Design Institute, Amsterdam (1993-1999). John is a Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art, in London, and a Fellow of The Young Foundation, the UK’s social enterprise incubator.
Currently as director of Doors of Perception, he organises festivals around the world in which communities imagine a sustainable future, and take practical steps to realise it. He is also a member of the UK Parliament’s Standing Commission on Design.
