How do you include sustainability in your Creative Strategy?

1 Define your goals and values

The first step to include sustainability in your creative strategy is to define your goals and values as a creative professional or organization. What is your purpose, vision, and mission? How do you want to contribute to the social, environmental, and economic well-being of your stakeholders and the planet? How do you align your goals and values with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a global framework for addressing the most urgent challenges of our time? By clarifying your goals and values, you can set the direction and scope of your creative strategy and communicate it effectively to your team and partners.

2 Research your audience and context

The second step to include sustainability in your creative strategy is to research your audience and context. Who are you designing for and with? What are their needs, preferences, behaviors, and aspirations? How do they relate to the sustainability issues that you want to address? What are the current and future trends, opportunities, and threats in your industry and market? How do they affect your competitive advantage and value proposition? By researching your audience and context, you can gain insights and empathy that will help you identify and define the problems and opportunities that you want to solve or explore.

3 Design and test your solutions

The third step to include sustainability in your creative strategy is to design and test your solutions. How do you generate and select ideas that are feasible, desirable, and viable? How do you prototype and validate your solutions with your users and stakeholders? How do you incorporate sustainability principles and practices into your design process, such as circular design, biomimicry, cradle-to-cradle, or life cycle assessment? How do you ensure that your solutions are ethical, inclusive, and accessible? By designing and testing your solutions, you can create and deliver value that meets the needs and expectations of your audience and context.

4 Measure your impact

The fourth step to include sustainability in your creative strategy is to measure your impact. How do you evaluate and communicate the effectiveness and efficiency of your solutions? How do you measure and report the social, environmental, and economic outcomes and benefits of your solutions? How do you use feedback and data to improve and iterate your solutions? How do you celebrate and share your successes and learnings with your team and partners? By measuring your impact, you can demonstrate and enhance your contribution to sustainability and innovation.

6 Inspire and influence

The sixth step to include sustainability in your creative strategy is to inspire and influence. How do you share your story and vision with your audience and context? How do you engage and empower them to join you in your sustainability journey? How do you influence and advocate for positive change in your industry and society? How do you collaborate and network with other creative professionals and organizations that share your goals and values? By inspiring and influencing, you can amplify your impact and create a lasting legacy of sustainability.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?