Design activism and the favorable conditions for craft engagement Bière de la Rade case study

Abstract

This article presents the requirements surrounding activism and focuses the activist stance of the designer and the brewers. These requirements based on sustainable development, manufacturing and local consumption, highlights a variety of tensions and ambiguities, including technical feasibility and economic viability that companies affront. Far from suggesting that they could or should be removed, these questions are valued in this paper, as they illuminate the meanings of engagement reproduced through co-design practices. The argument is illustrate through a case-study of a craft beer company – Bière de la Rade, that led a local mobilization with some local initiatives in the sense to promote Zero Waste production. The study establishes an original theoretical framework, illustrated with the analysis of six specific codesign projects developed by the company with design students. The main results show how company can reduce their impact and wastage at the end of the manufacturing process: especially on packaging and transport. Analysing these solutions we can say that design activism is motivated by the craft engagement, that makes it possible because there are values, methodologies and common practices.