Mission Statement
I believe that design-led business has the power to tackle some of the most pressing and interconnected environmental & social challenges of our time. These should work together like cogs in a machine, supporting and driving each other.
Biography
Clare is a designer with experience in design and circular economy. She was head of sustainability at the Design Council before setting up social enterprise SEED Foundation, seeking entrepreneurial solutions to environmental challenges such as food, water and waste. She established and directed SustainRCA, an interdisciplinary centre for sustainability at the Royal College of Art where she was a mentor for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. She co-founded Department 22, innovation agency for sustainability and circular economy with a focus on food.
Alongside regular tutoring and mentoring, Clare is co-founder and CPO of Moree, a reusable packaging system currently focused on the coffee sector, whose vision is a world without single use plastic.
Questionnaire
Where do you want to foster change and why?
My personal mission is complex and huge, and time is ever shorter. The shortest route is to help as many others as possible to embark on a similar path, addressing whichever goals they personally care about most.
What or who influenced you during your professional career?
Victor Papanek gave me the courage to be a designer while making a living reflecting my values Donella Meadows taught me the value of systems thinking Jared Diamond showed me the interconnectedness of global systems
We all have those significant moments or situations (success or failure); which one was yours, and what did you learn from it?
Life is a learning journey. As my product design studio in Milan grew I felt ever less comfortable. In spite of a lifelong love of the natural world, I realised my job was mainly designing waste! Sometimes I could slightly reduce the environmental impact of my work, but I had no power. My clients’ mission was to sell units of product. I began to ask how I could make a living as a designer and actually create social / environmental benefits? The answer was to create my own businesses!