ABSTRACT

This chapter presents a methodology, called the Rhizome Approach, which was developed towards equipping designers to leverage craft production-to-consumption systems in developing countries for holistic sustainability design. The Rhizome Approach advocates the re-emergence of systems thinking in the design process towards understanding and being mindful of the entire system that sustainability rests on. The chapter offers an overview of the Rhizome Approach, including the barriers which informed its seven steps, the steps, their aims and the envisaged method for operationalizing the steps. The first four of the seven steps are: providing knowledge and information on sustainability; enabling a holistic overview on production-to-consumption systems and value chains; including sustainability at a strategic level; and including sustainability criteria in the design brief. The last three of the seven steps are: collaborative design process; providing tools for sustainability design; and keeping the design team in the loop until final product actualization.