In this piece from the archive Professor Stuart Walker, who holds the Chair of Design for Sustainability at Lancaster University in the UK, speaks to Pat Coyle about how materially saturated we are in this world and how design needs to become sustainable and better at promoting human happiness rather than accumulating more material goods. A very important message during this Covid crisis.

Professor Walker, who is also co-founder and a Director of Imagination Lancaster Creative Research Lab, points out that real happiness comes from the quality of our relationships. So, he asks if design practice can help promote these lasting values.

In his research at Lancaster University, Professor Walker found that a number of groups of workers were motivated by more spiritual-related values, e.g., giving back to the community rather than seeking profit as the primary goal. And says that we need to build a new system that allows people to live more happily and sustainably, especially in the face of climate break down.