1. Upskilling

Before you can be a spokesperson within your organization and with your clients, it may be necessary to build up your eco-design skills! Besides, considering how quickly the field evolves it is necessary to continuously work to complement our knowledge. But all of this can start with small things!

a. Learning

Here are some ideas and materials to explore eco-design. There is also a resources page in the guide.

Keeping watch

Depending on your preferences and your availability it is possible to:

subscribe to newsletters: Limites numériques (French), etc.
attend conferences: the Journée de l’écoconception numérique (French), Ethics by Design (French), etc.
read articles: GreenIT.fr (French), Web vert (French), Le Bon Digital (French), Designers Ethiques newletters (French), etc.
watch webinars: Designers Ethiques' PeerTube (French) includes dozens of videos on the topic
listen to podcasts: Techologie (French), Octet Vert (French), Green IO, etc.

See all resources.

Finding workmates

You probably know people already involved in eco-design, and if not, you can meet some.

See what's happening in your organization in that field: environmental initiatives by employees, corporate social responsibility department, colleagues advocating for an eco-design approach, etc.
Share best practices: #communauté_démarche-écoconception channel on our Designers Ethiques Slack (French), apéros Tast'IT (French), etc.

Going deeper into some topics

Other than training in the fundamentals of eco-design, here are a few ideas for things to delve into, depending on what you aspire to study:

Social and environmental impacts of digital technologies
Principles and purposes of eco-design: life cycle analysis, stakes, etc.
Eco-design best practices: Eco-design guide, etc.
Constraints and consequences for other professions (developer, etc.)
Getting familiar with the RGESN (Référentiel Général de l'Ecoconception des Services Numériques - General Repository for the Eco-design of Digital Services) (French)

b. Training

Reading is a good place to start, but acquiring new sets of skills is the next necessary step. It can be reassuring to do so through a pedagogical framework. How to find the best training to undertake?

1. Start by benchmarking eco-design training programs

In any organization, it is often beneficial to start by establishing this overview for each professional field so that decision makers can get involved in choosing the best suited program.

2. Training in eco-design for digital services

This can be difficult to finance by yourself or to convince your employer to support. But in France, independent financing exists through the OPCO and FAF programs.

☝️ Worth noting that no eco-design program is currently eligible for government support through the CPF and none have government-recognized certifications from the state.

💡 Most organizations will send a first employee to "test the waters" before deploying a large scale training program. Do not hesitate to put yourself forward to benefit from this trial run. See other arguments to persuade people of the worthiness of this undertaking.

3. Establishing a multidisciplinary training program within your organization

We have observed that more and more large companies make it available for their developers, designers and projects leaders to receiving training specific to their professions. They are often motivated to do so by the desire to access public markets or to reinforce their environmental positioning.

💡 Do not hesitate to reach out to your corporate social responsibility department for support in setting up such initiatives!