Guest curators get Greengaged going

Greengaged will return to the London Design Festival this year with a new format, in which five guest curators will each put together a day of events.

The banking system is set for an overhaul in a session by John Grant, co-founder of advertising agency St Luke’s and author of The Green Marketing Manifesto.
Grant is curating a day of events that will focus on service design structures and new business models.

He inspired the new curator-led format after talking to Greengaged founder Sophie Thomas and offering his expertise to the event.

‘Grant told me that he could create a service design programme and partner others for the day, too,’ says Thomas. ‘The new format is about getting people who are on the frontline of specialist areas to expand the reach of Greengaged,’ says Thomas. The line-up also includes the Olympic Delivery Authority’s head of sustainability and regeneration Dan Epstein, who will curate a day on recent developments in sustainable materials.

Michael Pawlyn, a consultant on the Eden Project and founder of Exploration Architecture, will run a day on biomimicry in design.

Ed Gillespie, founder of Green communications company Futerra, will curate a day of events looking at obstacles to pulling sustainability into mainstream design.
Finally, Three Trees Don’t Make a Forest, of which Thomas is director, will present a day with design critic Ann Gerber looking at the tension between sustainable design’s craft aesthetics and industrial processes.

‘The programme is actually more subject-led than people-led,’ says Thomas. ‘It covers the areas of sustainable design that I know are really big. However, I am not an expert in these areas and I did not want to repeat last year’s programme, so it makes sense to get other people on board to curate specialist sections.’

The event will retain its hands-on approach, featuring practical design sessions and excursions.

Greengaged will take place at the Design Council, London WC2, from 21-25 September.