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Design and manufacture for sustainable development in Wales

This paper examines issues of design and manufacture for sustainable development in Wales. The Welsh Assembly Government is one of only three governments in the world with a constitutional remit to promote sustainable development. This paper reports on work exploring the contribution that design can make to sustainable development in the particular context of small and micro scale craft textile production in West Wales. It addresses several themes including environmentally benign design / manufacture and dematerialisation as well as the relationship of design to the economic and social dimensions of sustainable development. The research is the exploratory stage of doctoral study and it focuses on social and cultural aspects of production. Many aspects of the producers’ activities are examined – their understanding and use of design, their products and the process of designing them, the market for the products, the environmental impact of their activity and their economic viability. The data has been collected using a case study approach and mixed methods of data collection including collection of documents in the broadest sense, field visits, interviews and observation. Emerging issues from results obtained to date include: The producers’ relationship to design is varied. The majority do not have any design training or education and do not employ a designer. They do however acknowledge the potential importance of design, and almost certainly do ‘design’ in an informal sense. The producers as manufacturers and tourist attractions. Although the producers see themselves as being primarily manufacturing units, they are all visitor attractions and as such, contributors to the tourist economy of West Wales, with a consequent environmental impact. The experience of visiting a site of manufacture is cited as a major reason for visits to be made. Some of the producers also provide services such as recreational courses. The cultural significance of the products and the reason for purchase has a bearing on issues of sustainable consumption as the relationship between the producer, the purchaser and the goods themselves is a close one. The paper concludes with suggestions for further work.