Notes Design

The Sustainable Innovations at the Base of the Pyramid conference has recently concluded at the Helsinki School of Economics where there were a number of speakers from both business and design as well as developmental organizations such as the UNDP and UNEP. The primary focus of the conference was on sustainable solutions - whether addressing the issues of climate change, the environment, waste, recycling or resources or whether business models meant to serve the poor profitably could be designed to be self supporting over time.

From the design point of view, Dr Prabhu Kandachar of TU Delft's Industrial Design dept spoke on the need for a systems approach that put the users at the center of the design and development process, rather than the profits. His comprehensive overview of the global scenario is available here "Base of the pyramid strategy - eradicating poverty with innovations? "

Nokia's BoP strategy, Philips Design's user centered approach to co-creation and more after the jump.