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Circular Design Series

Global Design Forum: The Future of Packaging symposium.

Part of the Circular Design Series in partnership with SAP, 23 May 2023, New York.

Designing with empathy for the consumers of today and the future is a challenge we must take on, says Birsel + Seck co-founder Ayse Birsel at a talk filmed by Dezeen for Global Design Forum in partnership with SAP.

"If we have the users in the room thinking with us and using our tools to think creatively, that changes everything," Birsel said.

Called Creating a Compelling Reason for Change, the talk brought together a panel of design and digital thought leaders to discuss how to design for consumers in the face of global economic, environmental and social pressures.

About the Circular Design Series

Once you start thinking about circular design, it is possible to see everywhere. Consider the Circular Design Series itself, even. Soft launched by SAP in 2018 at London Design Festival, the Plastics Cloud was more of a provocation, aiming to inspire action around the challenge posed by plastic waste.

That evolved into a physical space for dialogue in 2019, created in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The pandemic curtailed physical engagement in 2020, but supercharged the conversation and launched the Circular Design Project in earnest. The virtual talk series spanned a variety of subjects, from fashion and the built environment, to food design and material innovation.

Going strong two years on, Global Design Forum has now leaped across the pond to New York, with a renewed focus on plastics, and in particular, packaging.