Since the very first day of Livework aimed to improve lives. Today, 19 years later, Livework can no longer ignore that we need to consider our planet’s health for that pursuit. One of Livework’s founders, Ben Reason, has taken the company on an explorative journey: Can design take responsibility for the key role it played in the development of our industrial consumer society? And can design play a role in reducing the human impact on the planet? Can we reduce consumption, whilst still growing prosperity? In her talk, Anna van der Togt invites us to embark on the same journey Livework’s founder is taking her and her colleagues. Let's explore the potential qualities of a redesigned design."

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Liveworkstudio.com London Rotterdam Sao Paulo Livework Studio © 2019
Design in the
Anthropocene
Anna van der Togt | Livework
Mobile UX London Meetup
March 2020
Liveworkstudio.com London Rotterdam Sao Paulo Livework Studio © 2019
Photo by Tobias Tullius on Unsplash

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Design
MUXL meetup

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Human
Centered
MUXL meetup
Reframing Contextual ExperimentalCo-creative
Design

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MUXL meetup
Human centred

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MUXL meetup
Co-creative

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MUXL meetup
Reframing

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MUXL meetup
Contextual

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MUXL meetup
Experimental

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Anthropocene
MUXL meetup

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Anthropocene
Increased levels of climate-warming CO2 in the
atmosphere at the fastest rate for 66m years, with
fossil-fuel burning pushing levels from 280 parts per
million before the industrial revolution to 400 ppm
and rising today.
The Guardian August 2016
MUXL meetup

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Anthropocene
Doubled the nitrogen and phosphorus in our soils in
the past century with fertiliser use. This is likely to be
the largest impact on the nitrogen cycle in 2.5bn years.
The Guardian August 2016
MUXL meetup

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Anthropocene
Put so much plastic in our waterways and oceans that
microplastic particles are now virtually ubiquitous, and
plastics will likely leave identifiable fossil records for
future generations to discover.
The Guardian August 2016
MUXL meetup

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Design in the Anthropocene
MUXL meetup

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Human
Centered
MUXL meetup
Reframing Contextual ExperimentalCo-creative
Re-design Design

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“The end of the world is the
end of the idea that humans
are the only people that have
a world on this planet.”
Humankind, Timothy Morton
More than human centred
MUXL meetup

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“Human beings can choose to
remain unaware of their
fundamentally co-creative
involvement in reality, or they
can become mindful and
responsible in full awareness of
the power of design.”
Daniel Christian Wahl
Hugely co-creative
MUXL meetup

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"The idea of a continually
growing economy is an
anathema to an ecologist"
Prosperity Without Growth, Tim Jackson
Reframing prosperity
MUXL meetup

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“Now that is agency… It is
what makes humans of
nature and also the freak of
nature.”
Defiant Earth, Clive Hamilton
Ecologically Contextual
MUXL meetup

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“Some things benefit from
shocks; they thrive and grow
when exposed to volatility,
randomness, disorder, and
stressors and love adventure,
risk, and uncertainty.”
Anti-fragile, Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Always experimental
MUXL meetup

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More than
Human
Centered
Reframing
prosperity
Ecologically
Contextual
Always
Experimental
Hugely
Co-creative
Design will need to be