As part of the Irish Design Week Reform 08 is held to reinforce the inclusion of sustainability into design practice.<br /> The event is largely created through the energy of two people; Adam de Eyto (Carlow Institute of Technology), and Muireann McMahon (Limerick University). Their efforts are an attempt to build the level of sustainable design in Ireland.

As part of the Irish Design Week, Reform 08 is held to reinforce the inclusion of sustainability into design practice.
The event is largely created through the energy of two people; Adam de Eyto (Carlow Institute of Technology), and Muireann McMahon (Limerick University). Their efforts are an attempt to build the level of sustainable design in Ireland.

The Reform Event is held in two locations, Carlow and Cork. Carlow is focussed on product development and Cork on Architecture and it is held with a Video Link between the two sites and speakers alternating between the two. Having the event in the regions is deliberate as it provides a wider focus rather than just on Dublin.
I was fortunate enough to attend and give a keynote address along with a colleague from elementzerosix Ryder Meggit.

The first actual speaker was Jonathon Crinion. He spoke about ‘Holistic Design Ecology’, an educational course and perhaps a way of thinking.
‘Holistic Design Ecology is made up of three words in a significant order. “The word ‘Holistic’ provides a context for our actions, ‘Design’ is an attractor for the millions of people who pursue some form of creative design activity and ‘Ecology’ is about the human relationship with the environment”.
Unlike many in the field of sustainable design Jonathan is a hugely experienced designer who has designed for a large range of international companies such as Knoll and Keihauer. He has shut down his design practice to focus on what counts, the environment.

It is pretty refreshing to see and hear someone that has decided to walk his talk. His message is hard for most designers to contemplate, but something that at very least warrants a serious consideration.
The next speaker was Michael Braungart of Cradle to Cradle fame. His presentation was a bit restricted, which a shame considering the effort was taken by the Irish team. His message, which is always consistent, discussed the cradle to cradle method and answered a few questions before he had to leave.
Brian O'Brien from Solearth on Video Link from Cork spoke about his studio's architectural work and how they build environmental factors into their buildings. He covered the way they frame a brief for building which was particularly interesting. These simple structured lists stated the key things which they would have to factor in and the materials and compounds which they would exclude.

My presentation focussed in the how I evolved from a graduate design student interested in sustainable product design in 1997 to where my work is at today. This traversed learning through designing products in a manufacturing environment through an ISO14001 certification and the techniques from ecology and then becoming aware of life cycle assessment and more broadly life cycle thinking. It also covered the impact visualisation work that I have been working on over the last few years. It was received well with some interesting questions about the approach and my ideas. The presentation will be available shortly on our new resources site.
Ryder Meggit then spoke about applying sustainable product design principles in practice. He discussed the issues and other aspects of applying product development in the medical domain and provided some case studies including the neocapsul and the ambulance child restraint.

Ryder Meggit - Element06 speaking at Reform 08
In the afternoon I conducted a workshop using our 'Core Function' approach to defining a product in life cycle terms and the Impacts of Environmental Aspects (IoEA) which involved investigating the life cycle of a product. Unfortunately we had to leave a little early but still managed to get both aspects of the workshop completed.
It was an interesting day with a wide range of perspectives. A great note of thanks needs to be give to Muireann and Adam for their efforts in continuing to keep the event running in Ireland.