Mind IT

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Mind IT

Wednesday, 19 September 2018 | Dr Jitin Chaddha

As per recently released comprehensive report on the Ease of Living 2018 (by Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry of Government of India), 111 cities across India were assessed on 79 indicators grouped under 4 broad parameters — institutional, social, economic and political. Whatever the relevance of rankings may be, the report succeeds in highlighting the fact that we need to address environmental challenges to step up in social progress indicators. This essentially means that we need to structure a robust and sustainable community that can combat pressing needs of the populace.

Sustainability, the latest buzzword that has been dissected by at various conventions and congregations, is not an alien concept to the Indian ethos and culture. India, a country known for its diversity and contradictions, has been nurturing a sustainable ecosystem.

In fact, sustainable and environment friendly practices such as hoarding and thriftiness have long been an integral component of the lifestyle and culture of Indians. Have we ever we paused and pondered over the core idea of sustainability? What makes us preserve certain products over generations, while discarding some.

Emotional sustainability is a concept that stems from the value of a product and what it means to the consumer or end-user. Sustainability stretches beyond the realm of going green and a holistic approach to the subject would indeed include emotional sustainability as an integral aspect.

Designers by trade are trained to identify problems, critically analyse and view situations from multiple perspectives, and above all use logic, intuition and empathy to devise impactful solutions. Products with a heightened probability of emotional sustainability share the uniqueness of utility and time spent on the design. They strategically strike the perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality.

In fact, it is important for design professionals to go beyond products and systems, sustainable as they may be, and act on social challenges like increased stress levels, anxiety, depression and the like. This can be done by designing innovative mechanisms that will help inculcate a more inclusive society.

Design has a crucial role to play in furthering the cause of sustainability. Thus, the need of the hour is to groom the next-gen designers who can seamlessly adapt themselves to the demands of the society and leverage expertise of cross-functional teams to arrive at environment-friendly solutions while being sensitive to the social challenges people battle in the real world.

The time is right for us to internalise emotional sustainability in a world that is struggling to drastically reduce carbon emissions while developing sophisticated technologies of the future. However, while doing so, we must respect indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices that eventually contribute to sustainable and equitable development. It is important that stakeholders of design education in India take a leaf out of our dynamic Indian culture and ensure sustainability permeates effortlessly through the entire design process rather than seem like an afterthought. We must build an ecosystem where more and more consumers establish an emotional attachment to the product, thereby, reducing the prospects of it being disposed off.

Sustainable development is a collective responsibility and therefore, skilled minds from all facets and holding varied expertise must brainstorm together towards building emotionally sustainable communities. Therefore, design schools must essay their role as ‘providers’ and build a stimulating ecosystem that triggers conversations around sustainable design solutions in the holistic sense.

— Dr Jitin Chaddha, IIAD founder

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