Cross-Cultural Design for Sustainability: From Design Thinking to Design Strategy

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable development, which appeared for the first time in 1987 with the publication of the Brundtland Report, which warned of the negative environmental consequences of economic growth and globalization, involves trying to find possible solutions to the problems caused by industrialization and population growth. The three main pillars of sustainable development are economic growth, environmental protection, and social equality, which run in the opposite direction; connecting the ‘economy’ and ‘sustainability’ becomes a challenging issue. With increasing global competition, cross-cultural design is not merely desirable for a company in the design field, but rather is mandatory. On the other hand, the importance of studying sustainability is shown repeatedly in academic research studies in all fields. However, there is a lack of systematic approaches that cover ‘sustainability’ in cross-cultural design industries. For future studies, we need a better understanding of sustainability not only for cross-cultural design, but also for environmental protection and social equality. While cultural features become important issues in the interactive experiences of users, the sustainability between humans and culture becomes a vital issue in cross-cultural product design and is worthy of further in-depth study. Therefore, this Special Issue focuses on discussing how to use ‘design thinking’ in designing the cross-cultural product to build a ‘design strategy’ from the perspective of sustainable development. Whether it is the construction of a theoretical level or the promotion of practical applications, it still needs more effort from us. Thus, theoretical research via scrupulous literature reviews in various design scopes and empirical studies of significant design cases are welcome.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

• Frameworks for cultural industries and sustainable development with design thinking;
• Theoretics and practice within cultural industries and sustainable design strategy.
• Cultural industries and sustainable development of cross-disciplines;
• Design implementation for sustainable development;
• Research of creative design strategy;
• Special topics of design case studies;
• Design for society.

Relevant Reference:

1. Chang, S.-H. Eliciting Brand Loyalty with Elements of Customer Experience: A Case Study on the Creative Life Industry. Sustainability 2022, 14, 11547. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811547
2. Dorst, K. Frame Innovation: Create New Thinking by Design; MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 2012.
3. Eriksson, Y. Different Perspectives in Design Thinking; CRC Press: Boca Raton, ‎FL, USA, 2022.
4. Hsu, C.H.; Chang, S.H.; Lin, R. A Design Strategy for Turning Local Culture into Global Market Products. Int. J. Affect. Eng. 2013, 12(2), 275–283. https://doi.org/10.5057/ijae.12.275
5. Kim, J.; Kwon, S.-H. K-Pop’s Global Success and Its Innovative Production System. Sustainability 2022, 14, 11101. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141711101
6. Lawson, B. How Designers Think; Routledge: London, UK, 2006.
7. Lee, Y.; Peng, C.; Lee, T.; Zhao, Z. Sustainable Development Assessment of Cultural and Creative Industries in Casino Cities: A Case Study of Macao. Sustainability 2022, 14, 4749. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084749
8. Leong, B.D.; Clark, H. Culture-Based Knowledge Towards New Design Thinking and Practice: A Dialogue. Des. Issues 2003, 19(3), 48–58. https://doi.org/10.1162/074793603768290838
9. Lin, Y.-S.; Lin, M.-H. Exploring Indigenous Craft Materials and Sustainable Design—A Case Study Based on Taiwan Kavalan Banana Fibre. Sustainability 2022, 14, 7872. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137872
10. Razzouk, R.; Valerie J. Shute, V.J. What Is Design Thinking and Why Is It Important? Review of Educational Research, 2012, 82(3), 330–348. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654312457429
11. Sun, Y.; Lo, H.; Cao, J.; Lin, R. Inheritance of Traditional Family Values: A Comparative Study of Family Ancestral Shrines and Related Paintings of Lee Family. Sustainability 2022, 14, 7188. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127188
12. Sun, Y.; Wu, I.-W.; Lin, R. Transforming “Ritual Cultural Features” into “Modern Product Forms”: A Case Study of Ancient Chinese Ritual Vessels. Religions 2022, 13, 517. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060517
13. Wu, J.; Ju, L.-H.; Lin, P.-H.; Lyu, Y. The Relationship between Form and Ritual in Cultural Sustainability. Sustainability 2022, 14, 9157. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159157
14. Yang, C.-H.; Sun, Y.; Lin, P.-H.; Lin, R. Sustainable Development in Local Culture Industries: A Case Study of Taiwan Aboriginal Communities. Sustainability 2022, 14, 3404. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063404
15. Yen, H.-Y. How the Experience Designs of Sustainable Festive Events Affect Cultural Emotion, Travel Motivation, and Behavioral Intention. Sustainability 2022, 14, 11807. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141911807

Prof. Dr. Rungtai Lin
Prof. I-Ying Chiang
Dr. Yanru Lyu
Dr. Jun Wu
Guest Editors

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• sustainable development
• cross-cultural design
• cultural industries
• design thinking
• design strategy