In this installment of El Periscopio on sustainability and circularity with Guillem Bargalló, head of sustainability at Ikea Catalonia, we talk at length about the role of companies, users and design in changing the world.
After studying economics and with a lot of interest towards different NGOs and cooperatives, Guillem started working in the technology and startup sector with the goal of being able to make big changes in the world.
Inspired by Christian Felber, Muhammad Yunus or Yvon Chouinard, it was the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh in 2013 that marked a before and after in his perspective towards the business world. This event that uncovered the miseries of the fast fashion industry motivated him to create a better planet and society for all.
What started as a hobby, and today is a means of communication, is his blog The Social Good. A 10 year old project that gives voice to all those who are creating a better and fairer world through their projects.
To make the transition to sustainability, companies have to be pushed from the bottom up. The priority is for the people who are in the company on a day-to-day basis to push to convince people that they have to commit to sustainability.
Guillem tells us that at Ikea it's the other way around. This curious top down has its origins in the Scandinavian consciousness, which has always prioritized sustainability in its culture.
This furniture giant wants 1 out of every 3 products it sells to have sustainable characteristics. And it is very close to achieving this.
"To reach as many people as possible, so they can live a more sustainable life at a lower price," says Guillem. This is one of Ikea's goals as it seeks to break with the status quo and make sustainability accessible to all.
Product as a service. The multinational is working on this business model for the not-too-distant future. Bargalló stresses that it is not necessary to sell a lot of first-hand furniture, but that the key is to know how to give them a second life, servitizing the sector.
Yes, as long as it works well.
"What will make your project work is that it is competitive," says Guillem.
The reality is that we live in a capitalist and entrepreneurial world, and you have to know how to play this game. Good-naturedness will not make a project work.
Companies do not create needs. Companies exploit the needs that already exist in everyone. If we change our way of being, companies change automatically. That is why Guillem motivates us to change our way of consuming in order to be more sustainable and create a better planet.
"Consume less and dedicate more time to yourself," Bargalló tells us.
Guillem predicts that in 10 years there will be a servitized economic model. Companies think that if they produce less, they will have no business, but the key will be to sell a service and not a product. Needs will be covered in a more collaborative way.
Looking to the future, our guest confesses that bad things will come, but also many cool things. He encourages us to focus on the latter and be inspired.
