Design Declares is a growing group of designers, design studios, agencies and institutions here to declare a climate and ecological emergency. As part of the global declaration movement, we commit to harnessing the tools of our industry to reimagine, rebuild and heal our world.
Design Declares is a CIC and would not exist without our dedicated team of co-steers, volunteers, and our passionate community working towards change in the creative industry. Your support can go a long way, and helps us too continue the valuable work needed in tackling the climate crises. If you believe in the work we do, please consider a small donation to help us on our journey for a more equitable and just planet.
What does it take to Declare? It’s accepting we are in an emergency of climate and nature, and a commitment to do something about it. Here are eight places to start:
Acknowledge and raise awareness of the climate and ecological crisis - including its roots in systems of oppression - in our organisations and our practice.
Invest in educating ourselves and our teams on methods of sustainable and regenerative design, and show leadership by making measurable change to our practice. The Design Declares Toolkit is a great place to start.
Meaningfully consider environmental and social impacts as part of every pitch, proposal and production process. Not every design output will be carbon neutral or fully climate friendly, but every project is an opportunity to make real progress.
Measure the environmental and social impact of our businesses and design projects, and hold ourselves to account for what we find out.
Encourage, recognise and reward sustainable and regenerative design excellence in our industry through media and awards.
Build and foster intra- and cross-discipline knowledge networks to share tools, resources and best practice to accelerate progress in our industry.
Create with and for the people who are disproportionately affected both by climate change and by the transition to a lower-carbon world.
Enable systemic change by working alongside policymakers, campaigners, ecologists, scientists, activists and others to strengthen local and national movements for change.
Design Declares is open to individuals and institutions working in industrial, digital, graphic, communication and service design. To declare here, you must be a company with an office in the UK employing at least one full-time designer. We also welcome declarations from practising freelance designers who are registered as self-employed in the UK, and global supporters from other countries. All declarations will be named and published on this site.
Design Declares has always been about people. From the moment that Design Council CDO Cat Drew introduced Alexie Sommer and Jo Barnard back in 2022, followed by Abb-d Taiyo and Aurelie Lionet coming onboard and aligning to the vision, we knew Design Declares was something special.
Read storyIn an industry first, MEK have documented exactly how they approached and solved this challenge so they can inspire others to do the same and help businesses transition to sustainable digital practices.
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Subscribe to the Design Declares UK newsletter to receive the latest news and updates. By signing up you will also gain access to The Design Declares Toolkit, a live and evolving Notion site co-created with our community. It is filled with the latest resources and methods to help you on your journey to climate-positive design.
Every signatory to Design Declares will receive an access link to the Toolkit. If you are unable to declare emergency quite yet, you can still access the Toolkit - just register below.