London, United Kingdom
Critics have pointed out: “Most Brits think Charles’ environmentalism is pretty hypocritical given the amount of flights in private jets he had taken over the decades and still does. He seems to be one of the types that believe the average person should give up their one annual foreign holiday while he continues to fly on a weekly basis.”
As part of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, the Prince of Wales, announces the “Terra Carta”—a charter that puts sustainability at the heart of the private sector.
Marking a year since he announced his Sustainable Markets Initiative at Davos, the Terra Carta offers the basis of a recovery plan to 2030 that puts Nature, People and Planet at the heart of global value creation.
Deriving its name from the historic Magna Carta, which inspired a belief in the fundamental rights and liberties of people over 800 years ago, the Terra Carta aims to reunite people and planet, by giving fundamental rights and value to Nature, ensuring a lasting impact and tangible legacy for this generation.
Now Prince Charles, Jony Ive, and the Royal College of Art (RCA) will bring together young and emerging architects, designers, scientists, engineers, historians, writers and artists to repair the planet and give back to nature.
These include 2,300 RCA students drawn from the college’s four schools: architecture, arts & humanities, communication, and design. They represent over 70 countries and will collaborate in multidisciplinary teams, also joined by RCA alumni from 2011 to 2021.
According to the launch statement, lab participants have the opportunity to explore “local initiatives to restore biodiversity, reduce greenhouse gases, support developing countries, and catalyse a new economic and social model that realigns people with their environment.”
Their projects will be assessed by a panel of the RCA’s senior academic staff based on a trio of metrics: feasibility, measurable impact, and potential to present engaging and inspiring solutions to urgent problems.
A shortlist of up to 16 concepts will be presented in November to a jury that includes Prince Charles, Jony Ive, and Paul Thompson (the college’s vice-chancellor), alongside strategic and supporting partners of the Terra Carta Design Lab and the Sustainable Markets Initiative.
The winning designs will be announced in 2022, and their creators given strategic and financial support to transform their ideas into reality. Winners will also have the opportunity to be mentored by Ive, who served as chief design officer of Apple before launching his own creative collective, LoveFrom.
“Small ideas can have a big impact if they are supported with the right design, science and engineering and that is the key idea behind today’s Terra Carta Design Lab,” says the Prince.
The lab’s launch announcement comes at a pivotal moment for global cooperation to fight the climate emergency. ‘We only have 100 days until COP26, the big UN conference in Glasgow to tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis,’ continues the prince.
“We will all need to play our part, old and young, if we are to change how we look after the Earth, making it sustainable for Nature, People and Planet.”
“Often the biggest challenges demand the most ingenious, most creative thinking, which is why I’m so excited about the work that the RCA students will be able to contribute through this collaboration. I know that their creativity and inventiveness will develop truly powerful solutions,” states Jony Ive.
