Dr. Thomas Garvey | How Does the WDO Impact Global Sustainability?

Design Perspectives

World Design Organization & The Future of Industrial Design

Welcome to the final ndion episode with Dr. Thomas Garvey, President of World Design Organization (WDO), of which the German Design Council was a founding member in 1957. The interview provides an in-depth look at WDO, its mission, and the evolution of the industrial design profession. Dr. Garvey, who is also a professor at Carleton University, and host Moritz Marder discuss how the definition of industrial design has expanded to encompass a broader range of disciplines and how WDO is working to align its efforts with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The episode also highlights the organization's global network, various programs, and Dr. Garvey's own journey in the field of design.

📌 Three main takeaways:

Broadening the Scope of Industrial Design 🌍

The definition has expanded significantly, now encompassing a "strategic problem-solving process that drives innovation, builds business success, and leads to a better quality of life through innovative products, systems, services, and experiences." This broader perspective allows industrial designers to tackle a wide range of challenges, from infrastructure and health to gender equality and sustainable consumption.

Sustainability: A Guiding Principle ♻️

Sustainability, once a subject matter for designers to study, has now become a fundamental principle that permeates every aspect of their work. Dr. Garvey emphasizes the importance of considering the ecological, economic, and social dimensions of sustainability, as the small positive or negative impacts of industrial design can have far-reaching consequences due to the scale of mass production.

Aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals 🎯

WDO's consultative status with the United Nations has enabled the organization to actively engage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Dr. Garvey explains how industrial designers can contribute to almost all of the 17 SDGs, but also highlights the need to collaborate with other professions to achieve these ambitious targets.

👤 Guest: Dr. Thomas Garvey, President, World Design Organization 🌐 LinkedIn | WDO

🗣 Host: Moritz Marder, Industrial Designer & Brand Consultant 🌐 LinkedIn | Website

📚 Concepts and references mentioned

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) https://sdgs.un.org/goals

World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026 https://wdc2026.org/

WDO Members https://wdo.org/community/members/

World Design Impact Prize https://wdo.org/programmes/wdip/

World Industrial Design Day https://wdo.org/programmes/widd

WDO definition “Industrial Design“ https://wdo.org/about/definition/

WDO Website https://wdo.org

WDO Instagram https://www.instagram.com/worlddesignorg

WDO LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-design-organization

👉 In the ndion podcast, the German Design Council invites interesting people from various industries and talks to them about topics from the field of tension between design, brand and innovation. They ask about the current challenges in transformation, about megatrends and micro-tools, about lessons learned and the most important dos and don’ts.

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