Dezeen teamed up with PlasticFree to present its interdisciplinary forum of talks focussing on the climate crisis in New York City. Watch the talks here.

Called Our Incredible Future Now, the talk took place at Parsons School of Design in New York City on 2 February 2023 and was hosted by Sian Sutherland, co-founder of PlasticFree and A Plastic Planet.

The event brought together creative professionals across various disciplines to explore why the issue of climate change continues to be discussed at length instead of being addressed practically with the many proposed solutions that currently exist.

Featured speakers included chief innovation officer of Pangaia Amanda Parkes, Slow Factory founder Celine Semaan, and Birsel + Seck co-founder Ayse Birsel, among other designers and climate specialists.

The event followed the launch of the PlasticFree database, an online platform created in a bid to help architects and designers source plastic-free materials for their projects and avoid misinformation around more sustainable alternatives.

The subscription-based service provides detailed reports on more than 100 plastic alternatives that have been vetted by scientific advisors, highlighting their properties, production and sourcing in order to offer reliable and trustworthy information.

The platform's advisory council comprises scientists, business leaders and industry figureheads including Stirling Prize-winner David Chipperfield, designer Tom Dixon and curator Aric Chen.

Partnership content

This competition is a partnership between Dezeen and PlasticFree. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.