In fact Sustainability goes way beyond chemical pollution and CO2 emissions. Beyond plastic and petrol. And I’m very excited to share this with you today.
For example should Governments, Companies and Individuals also focus on Social Sustainability goals and what would they be specifically for each group?
Sustainability is about finding harmony and balance in life in every way. I would say its a mindset and a culture. Could it be that if we don’t also concern ourselves with Social and Economical Sustainability, that we won’t be able to achieve Ecological Sustainability?
Considering the material and social consequences of our actions in these fast changing times is becoming increasingly important and ways/tools that will help us to make the transition also.
An interesting way to look at Sustainability is through the Circles of Sustainability model.
“Circles of Sustainability is a method for understanding and assessing sustainability, and for managing projects directed towards socially sustainable outcomes. It is intended to handle ‘seemingly intractable problems’ such as outlined in sustainable development debates. The method is mostly used for cities and urban settlements”. – Via Wikipedia
But I think this model can also be applied companies that make and sell products like footwear and can be extended to the suppliers that they partner with.
For a Footwear Company the Circle of Sustainability model could start to look something like this below. I tried to adapt the Circle of Sustainability above from Wikipedia and I’m sure there is much more that can be added, but it seems like a good start.
One area that I think is missing from the above model is Automation and how it can be sustainable in the social/professional context. I can imagine how footwear production will become increasingly automated and I see many 3D digital and printed models online that align themselves well with the current injected footwear mass production model.
Could “Shell” footwear be the Future (and a topic for a future post)? Made from a mono material for easy processing and especially recycling (and no disassembly) could almost certainly also be an advantage to Sustainability. But what will such a shift mean for Footwear Professionals in creation/development and especially production positions?
Also I couldn’t think of the equivalent for Politics, which I will need to mull over a bit…
74 FOOTWEAR DESIGN CONSULTING 