For the very first of Design Seminars in 2020 on unchartered grounds, our design agency had the pleasure of visiting Switchrs in Mechelen.        The company profiles itself as “the strategy & sustainability partner for future-thinking companies” and set the ball rolling for a very interesting and inspiring semester of seminars.  

At Switchrsthey guide companies in translating big sustainability challenges into concrete ambitions and business models. They achieve this by developing new opportunities that understand how to combine doing good business with doing business for good. For the purpose of guiding these companies, Switchrs developed several tools, which were the primary ingredient of conversation during our visit.  

Michiel, the junior designer of the firm, explained our design agency how we can implement an inspiration game in our design process to explore the opportunities in the circular economy. By using cards of the “Loop tool” we were given new insights into circular products and services and different ways of looking at this economy, accompanied by a clear practical example. This “loop tool” is available for purchase on their website, we will definitely be using it ourselves in the future projects. 

At the end of the session, the team believed to have gained a shift in mindset because of the purpose-driven brainstorm. We went home with several concrete examples, which we will be able to use in future design cases. We found the seminar very instructive and interesting.
For more information about Switchrs and the loop tool, visit their website.