Meltdown Flags by German design studio Moby Digg and agency Serviceplan sees countries’ flags redrawn to represent the rate at which their glaciers are disappearing. The white areas on each flag are shown reducing in size as the glaciers melt over time. Flags included in the project represent countries where at-risk glaciers can be found, including the US, Chile, Canada, France and Greenland. Design Week has the full story here

Conferences and talks

The Crowd and Common Vision are staging the virtual Green Recovery Festival from November 16 to 19. The Festival “will explore current trends in social, economic and environmental sustainability as we look ahead to the COVID-19 recovery and how it can be aligned with the transition to a low carbon future”. Speakers include Jonathan Porritt and representatives from organisations such as Ecover, OVO, the UK Green Building Council and the Carbon Disclosure Project. Full details here

URGE’s Patrick Burgoyne took part on a Design Dialogues discussion on November 10, talking about URGE and our Mission. The talk also included lots of great practical financial and business advice from Barry Cumberlidge - Co-founder and Client Director of accountancy company Moose.

Also last week, Surfers Against Sewage ran a virtual assembly for over 10,000 schoolchildren in the UK this week. The Pupil Power Assembly provided information and resources about ocean plastics and circular design. Says one school “After investigating single-use plastics, we felt empowered to write to local businesses to encourage them to reduce plastic waste”. More here

In the news

Business Green reports on the UK water industry’s plans to rapidly decarbonise the industry within a decade. More here

Meanwhile, Bloomberg Green reports that San Francisco will ban the use of natural gas for heating and cooking in new buildings starting next year. Story here

And the Guardian has worrying news about problems with the UK’s £3bn green home grants scheme. Apparently, “builders and installers are failing to sign up, leaving thousands of households unable to access [the grants]. Story here

Further reading, listening, watching…

There’s a bewildering amount of resources out there for those of us interested in the green recovery and the climate emergency. Climate Scientist Dr Kate Marvel has created a list of her favourite (and most trusted) podcasts, websites and other resources. Find it here

Another helpful resource is Project Drawdown. “Our mission is to help the world reach Drawdown – the point in the future when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline, thereby stopping catastrophic climate change – as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible.” The site includes a sector-by-sector guide of “solutions to climate change with actions that can be taken today”. Check it out here