An exhibition exploring the link between the health of people and of the planet has opened.
The exhibition, at V & A Dundee, showcases new methods and projects which are underway through Design HOPES (Healthy Organisations in a Place-based Ecosystem, Scotland) – an initiative striving to create a more sustainable health and social care ecosystem across Scotland, to create a ‘greener’ NHS system.
The University of Strathclyde is the lead higher education institution in the project, which is using design-led research to identify barriers and opportunities for change within the healthcare system to reduce its national carbon output. This includes creating new products and services, prototyping and testing tools, and behaviours and systems needed to meet, and move beyond, urgent Net Zero goals.
As part of the exhibition, a diverse range of 17 Design HOPES projects will be highlighted, bringing together work led by experts at five Scottish universities, NHS Scotland, the third sector, and design organisations. The reduction of plastic waste in healthcare settings including single use PPE, increasing energy efficiency and designing sustainable practices are all being considered.
A Green Ward Toolkit has been designed to equip NHS staff with essential knowledge, tools and resources for implementing new sustainable practices. A service design project, called Flow, has also been created to improve patients’ journeys through healthcare practices, reducing hospital visits and the duration of hospital stays, and lowering travel needs.
In collaboration with NHS Scotland theatre staff, Design HOPES researchers have also developed a range of fully sustainable and biodegradable reusable textile products, including innovative theatre caps and scrubs.
Strathclyde, the Universities of Dundee and Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University and Abertay University are collaborating on the project with NHS Scotland as part of the AHRC and Design Museum’s Future Observatory programme.
Professor Paul Rodgers, of Strathclyde's Department of Design, Manufacturing and Engineering Management (DMEM) and co-director of Design HOPES, said: “Design HOPES is one of only four green transition ecosystem hubs in the UK. In this exhibition you will see what our amazing team of design-led researchers and collaborating partners from NHS Scotland and other organisations have been working on together for the past 12 months.
Creative talent
“The range of projects on show demonstrates clearly the hard work and creative talent that we can call upon across Scotland and the social, economic, cultural, and environmental potential of this work in future years.”
Professor Mel Woods, Chair of Creative Intelligence at the University of Dundee and co-director of Design HOPES, said: "Some of the exhibits are collecting data which expands our research exploration and allows us to conduct work in an open way, in collaboration with our partners.”
The free exhibition, Designing for the Green Transition, runs until 17 February 2025 at V&A Dundee, before then going on tour at various locations across the country, including public healthcare settings such as Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.