Designers Accord
From Wiki
The Designers Accord is a global coalition of designers, educators, researchers, engineers, and corporate leaders, working together to create positive environmental and social impact.
The Designers Accord is made up of over 170,000 members of the creative community, representing 100 countries, and each design discipline.
Adopters of the Designers Accord commit to five guidelines that provide collective and individual ways to take action. Becoming a member of the Designers Accord provides access to a community of peers that shares methodologies, resources, and experiences around environmental and social issues in design.
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Background
The Designers Accord started in July 2007, with a call to arms (a "Kyoto Treaty" of design) written by Valerie Casey in this article: The Designers Dilemma. An updated version of this article was published by DMI in May 2009.
Adopters agree to carry out 5 Guidelines:
1. Publicly declare participation in the Designers Accord.
2. Initiate a dialogue about environmental and social impact and sustainable alternatives with each and every client. Rework client contracts to favor environmentally and socially responsible design and work processes. Provide strategic and material alternatives for sustainable design.
3. Undertake a program to educate your teams about sustainability and sustainable design.
4. Consider your ethical footprint. Begin by measuring the carbon/greenhouse gas footprint of your firm, and pledge to reduce your footprint annually.
5. Advance the understanding of environmental and social issues from a design perspective by actively contributing to the communal knowledge base for sustainable design.
The timeline of the movement growth and significant milestones are listed here: History
Wiki Topics
This wiki has been created to capture content on the topic of sustainability in the design profession and in design education. Please create a page for your organization, firm, school, project, or theme you think is important.
Current topic pages include:
My Greatest Sustainability Challenge | My Greatest Sustainability Success | Impact | Carbon Footprint | Frameworks | Sustainability in Design Education | Environmental Standards for Products | Social Entrepreneurship | Lifecycle Analysis | Greenwashing | Carbon Offsets | Innovation | Dematerialization | Service Design | COP15 | CFL | Judging Criteria for Design Awards | Okala Guide | Suggested Reading List | Top Green Schools
Not sure how to create or add content? View our How To Use The Designers Accord Wiki guide. Search for a topic. If no page exists, make one and seed it with content that others can build on.
Design Education and Sustainability
On October 23-24, 2009, the Designers Accord will convene 100 individuals (an invited group of educational faculty and administrators, thought-leaders, experts, and select student ambassadors) for two days of highly participatory discussion, planning, and action around the topic of sustainability and design education.
Our goal is to have a lively and rich discussion during the summit, and then publish and freely distribute the best practices and recommendations for integrating sustainability into design and media programs to the public.
The event will be held in San Francisco, CA.
For more information, including a draft agenda: Designers Accord Summit on Design Education and Sustainability
Case Studies
To promote the great work of the Designers Accord community to the broadest audience of influencers, we have partnered with DA adopter Fast Company magazine.
View the introduction to the partnership: Case Studies in Sustainability from the Designers Accord
Read the first case study: Sole Power Tile Makes Adding Solar Easy
Submit your sustainability case studies to be featured on FastCompany.com: designersaccord.org/forms
Joining the Designers Accord
The goal of the Designers Accord is to create positive impact. There are 5 guidelines that structure the path to creating positive social and environmental impact. Please read through the Guidelines page.
There are three ways to join:
Adopter (design firms, corporations, educational institutions) An organized group within the creative community who pledge to work through the guidelines. Design firms adopt through DesignDirectory.com, Edus and Corps join through email.
Supporter (artists, freelance designers, students) An individual who is making the guidelines relevant to their personal practice. Like adopters, we expect supporters to evangelize the movement within their communities. Supporters join through email.
Endorser (organizations like AIGA and IDSA) Organization that adds awareness to the cause, and can provide infrastructure for education and outreach programs. Endorsers join through email.
We use Twitter to quickly publish the great resources our community creates and uses. Follow us and send us the resources you want to feed to the community: info@designersccord.org
Join us on Facebook
Join our group on LinkedIn
List of Adopters and Endorsers
Design firm adopters via Design Directory | Corporate Adopters | Educational Adopters | Endorsers
Programming
The Designers Accord is a global community of design thinkers and problem-solvers -- we think of it as a platform with online and offline manifestations. We have real-world events and an online presence. Find out more about what we're doing:
Host one of our Town Hall Meetings: If you are a design firm adopter, host a Town Hall event in your studio to facilitate a discussion between other adopters in your area.
Organize a Meet-Up: Meet-ups are casual get-togethers for Designers Accord adopters and the wider creative community. Meet-ups usually coincide with a conference or event.
Attend one of our Events: The Designers Accord already has Town Hall events, educational events, and meet-ups scheduled. A great way to get involved is simply to attend one of the events and get to know other members of the community.
Adopt: If you have not yet adopted the Designers Accord, read the adopter Guidelines and consider becoming a design firm, corporate, or educational adopter.
Be a Sponsoring Adopter Of The Month: Donate to the Designers Accord to help support our operations, and get a chance to tell your company's sustainability story.
Using the Logo
The Designers Accord logo is available for use by adopters, endorsers, and supporters to designate an association or affiliation with the Designers Accord or to promote Designers Accord events.
Download the Designers Accord Logo and Terms of Use here or view the Designers Accord logo Terms of Use page.
Non-Profit Status / Donations
The Designers Accord is a tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization.
The Designers Accord is underwritten with a grant from the Summit Foundation, and through the help of volunteers.
To contribute to the vision of the Designers Accord through a tax-deductible donation, please email info@designersaccord.org
