Statement: Simon Widmer on Circular Design at the Democratic Design Day 2018 in Lugano

Leading the circular design programme at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Simon is passionate about supporting designers to create for a circular economy – a future that is regenerative by design. Transitioning towards a circular economy is one of the biggest creative challenges of our time and it requires new mindsets and design approaches.

Therefore, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and IDEO have developed the Circular Design Guide as a freely available online toolkit that combines design thinking with a circular economy perspective. Since its launch in 2017, the guide has been used 500,000 times by people from 150 countries.

Previously, as a project manager in the New Plastics Economy initiative, Simon experienced first-hand the importance of design and collaboration in rethinking a plastics system that works.