We are entering a new period where it is crucial for us to do away with old ways of thinking and usher in a new period that reimagines everything we have taken for granted. To that end, this manifesto was written to capture ideas and thoughts I’ve had on mobility and sustainability, stretching back more than a decade. My goal is to inform, entertain, and ideally help spark a conversation that will contribute to us moving towards far more sustainable models of mobility.

Climate change, global inequality, food insecurity, crumbling infrastructure—it seems like the list of challenges we face is never ending. These are all monumental crises that are shaking the very foundations of society that we have relied on for so long.

That’s why we need to cultivate leaders who will have an impact both right now and in 50 years.

We no longer consume products; we consume experiences and shared values. Ownership is no longer the status symbol it once was, hence the rise of the sharing economy experiences. Today, we want to spend our hard-earned cash on experiences that make us happy rather than buying objects.

Have we learned nothing from this experience?

It’s a question I ask myself almost every day as a designer when I simply walk around my neighborhood and see more and more masks littering the sidewalks. Sure, they’ll go away eventually (not recyclable), but I can’t help but think that this was a lost opportunity for our society to remake how it consumes.

It’s funny because we know the impact our society has on the environment. We have the science to show it. And yet we fail to take the steps necessary to address the most pressing, existential threat of our time. In fact, we do just the opposite !

Maybe you love how they work, but you also probably love how they make you feel. It’s probably no surprise to you that these products were meticulously designed paying special attention to every little detail to ensure maximum pleasure, comfort, and performance.

Supercars have a long and storied place in echelons of pop culture. From the gadget-loaded but classy Bond Aston Martins to the wild and unpredictable antics of Top Gear, supercars capture our fascination like few other items can. Simultaneously a symbol of engineering excellence and flashy opulence, supercars are an experience in and of themselves.

When you’re out in the world and meeting people, every new person you meet has the potential to be an influencer or decision maker about a project or a job, and ultimately your destiny. But you can’t just come right out and tell them your life story!

As autonomous driving grows, it will be more than a set of features that enable people to drive and travel more. As such, we must take this opportunity now to envision how we achieve that future without sacrificing the delicate ecological balance we need to sustain our lives. I believe that as designers, we should build use cases that demonstrate how mobility should be managed within a sustainable energy framework.