Hilary Cottam on Redesigning Work

About this episode

Alice Rawsthorn discusses the future of work with social designer Hilary Cottam, exploring how work can be redesigned for the 21st century.

What is a good working life in the 21st century? And how do we get there? In the latest episode of Design Emergency, our cofounder, Alice Rawsthorn, explores these issues with the pioneering social designer and social activist Hilary Cottam, who conducted five years of intensive research into how we could – and should – redesign all aspects of work, for her new book, The Work We Need: A 21st Century Reimagining . . Hilary traveled throughout the UK and US – from the post-industrial cities of Barnsley and Grimsby in northern England, to Palo Alto, the tech capital of the US – to discover what workers and their employers thought of the logistics of their working lives, and how they can be redesigned to make them fit for purpose. Hilary also tells Alice how the “new industrialists”, the new generation of business leaders who recognise the urgent need for radical change, are already making progress.. . We hope you’ll enjoy this episode. You can find images of the projects Hilary describes on our Instagram @design.emergency. Please join us for future episodes of Design Emergency when we will hear from inspiring global design leaders whose work is at the forefront of forging positive…

People in this episode

Hosts: Alice Rawsthorn, Paola Antonelli

Guest: Hilary Cottam

Topics covered

• redesigning work
• 21st century
• social design
• work-life balance
• business leadership

Keywords

• working life
• social activism
• design
• research
• business leaders

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Work We Need: A 21st Century Reimagining

Places: UK, US, Barnsley, Grimsby, Palo Alto

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