Design Matters Lab: Shaping Indonesia’s Sustainable Creative Future

In 2024, the British Council Indonesia launched Design Matters Lab (DML)—an ambitious, international programme that brings together Indonesian and European designers, micro-factories, and cultural institutions to co-create circular, low-impact products. As the programme’s evaluation partner, Obviously Sustainable has been honoured to document DML’s processes, outcomes, and wider system influence, revealing how design and culture can play a transformative role in climate action.

A Lab Where Creativity Meets Climate Action

DML responds to a pressing challenge: despite Indonesia’s escalating waste and climate pressures, sustainable products and circular materials remain far from mainstream. Designers and micro-factories often lack access to R&D support, sustainable materials, and market pathways to turn low-impact ideas into viable products.

To confront this gap, DML connects five Indonesian–European designer pairs with five Bandung micro-factories through online bootcamps, mentoring, a residency in Bandung, and public showcases. The result is a unique ecosystem where traditional craftsmanship, circular design principles, and experimental materials meet to create products with real market potential.

Co-Creating Prototypes from Waste and Local Materials

Across the programme, designers and micro-factories experimented with alternative, low-impact materials, producing impressive prototypes that demonstrate how creativity can convert waste streams into valuable, desirable objects.

Examples include:

• Cow-dung and tofu-waste lamps that turn agricultural by-products into lighting features.

• Plastic-absorbing tactile tiles designed to support individuals with disabilities.

• Mycelium-based scenographic panels as biodegradable alternatives to plastic exhibition boards.

• Chairs made from processed coffee grounds, now ready for mass production.

• Chicken feet waste transformed into fashion and artwork, opening new pathways for community empowerment.

These prototypes exemplify the power of circularity: locally sourced, low-impact, regenerative, and culturally rooted.

Building Skills, Shifting Mindsets

One of DML’s strongest achievements lies in capacity building. Designers reported a significant increase in their understanding of circular design methods, giving the co-creation phase an average satisfaction score of 4.37/5.00. Participants described the experience as “eye-opening,” particularly in how it reframed material life cycles and sustainability within their artistic practice.

For micro-factories, DML served as a rare R&D window—an opportunity to explore new materials and refine production processes amid day-to-day operational pressures. Designers rated the value of micro-factory collaboration at 4.25/5.00, with many expressing confidence in the commercialisation potential of their prototypes.

Looking Forward

Our evaluation shows that Design Matters Lab is more than a creative programme—it is a systems intervention. It strengthens Indonesia’s circular design capabilities, fosters EU–Indonesia collaboration, empowers micro-factories, and shifts public narratives toward sustainability. Most importantly, it affirms the role of arts and culture as legitimate, measurable contributors to climate action and sustainable development.

Obviously Sustainable is proud to support the British Council in this effort and looks forward to the next chapter of building a more inclusive, creative, and environmentally conscious future for Indonesia.