On Making, Sustainability and the Importance of Small Steps : A Conversation

This article is a conversation between David Gauntlett and Amy Twigger Holroyd, who have shared interests in craft, making, sustainability and social change. Our discussion starts with the importance of small steps towards creativity: the personal satisfaction of making something yourself and of gaining recognition from others. These ‘micro’ steps, combined together at the macro level, become significant in contributing to social change. In particular, we explore the ways in which amateur making is important for sustainability – through offering an alternative to the mass consumption model and building a sense of engagement with the world. We then explore the idea of design as a process of action, change and creativity, which can be used to address social and environmental problems – whether by designing systems to support activity and reflection, or by creatively intervening in the complex systems within which we live.