Disentangling collaborative design for sustainability

The relationship between collaborative design (CD) and design for sustainability (DfS) is an emerging focus in design literature, driven by the urgency of the environmental crisis. Historically perceived as driving consumption, designers are increasingly recognised as critical actors in sustainability initiatives. Based on a scoping review, this study investigates the connections and relationships between CD and DfS with the aim of understanding the interrelations between these two themes. Adopting a tailored scoping strategy, the authors developed a dataset of publications from design journals indexed in Scopus and extracted relevant excerpts (i.e. rich quotes). The rich quotes were analysed thanks to activity theory and statement card analysis, resulting in the Collaborative Design for Sustainability framework. Based on the activity system, this framework provides a structured approach for practitioners to integrate diverse perspectives, emphasising the importance of systemic thinking in collaborative sustainability efforts. The paper also highlights limitations in existing literature, particularly around methods for operationalising collaboration, and calls for further research to apply the proposed framework in practical and educational contexts to enhance collaborative practices for sustainability.