Skip to main content
Culture and Creativity home page Culture and Creativity home page

Culture and Creativity

A European green deal

A European green deal

One of the European Commission's 2019-2024 priorities

Slide

Art to the rescue of the planet

The move towards a circular economy is one of the keys to a more sustainable planet. This will mean raising awareness of how things are made, how they are used and what happens to them when we don’t use them anymore.

Arts can often convey these principles of sustainability in a simple and more effective way than any number of political speeches. The creative imagination of designers can find new ways to make the circular economy a reality.

For example, we can all recycle our unwanted plastic, paper and food if the facilities and resources are there – but not all plastics are recyclable. What if we could turn food waste into new kinds of biodegradable packaging materials, instead of using plastic in the first place? That would tick 2 sustainability boxes at the same time – which is exactly what the Material Designers (MaDe) project does.

Some of the Creative Europe projects do not have such immediate practical applications as MaDe. Others, like Imagine 2020, are more poetic – but nonetheless convincing – attempts to raise awareness, inviting us to reflect on what we use, and what we throw away.

Projects related to the green deal

Material Designers (MaDe)

There’s much more to MaDe than packaging. The project’s young designers have shown that the stuff we throw away can be turned into jewellery, floor tiles, gumboots and even make-up.

It would be hard to find a more elegant demonstration of how circular design supports the Green Deal for Europe as the first climate-neutral continent, with zero waste and zero pollution.

Material Designers project details

Imagine 2020

Through Imagine 2020, another project supported under the Creative Europe programme, artists of all kinds invite us to reflect on our past, present, and future footprint on this planet.

The Museum of Water travelling exhibition, with its 1000+ bottles of water – donated by ordinary people from every walk of life – is a moving portrait of our daily lives, from the drudgery of dishwashing to holidays by the sea.

Imagine 2020 project details