Why We Need Creativity in STEM to Achieve the SDGs

Reaching the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is no easy task. These 17 important humanitarian and environmental goals, launched in 2015, are a global call for affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, climate action, and more. In order to achieve these goals the global community needs to adapt, innovate and revolutionise social structures, modes of economic growth and natural resource utilisation. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is at the forefront of accomplishing the SDGs, as these fields are our tools for implementing change. However, with all this need for innovation and new ideas, STEM is often merely portrayed as a highly methodical and logical range of disciplines. While this is true to an extent, this narrow view overlooks the role of a key component: creativity.

Creativity has been termed a special kind of renewable human talent, and is crucial in our pursuit of sustainability [1]. In STEM, it allows us to think outside of the norm, which leads to recognising ideas, alternatives and new possibilities. This type of thinking is fundamental in achieving the SDGs, and there is no shortage of examples where it has been applied.  In celebration of World Creativity and Innovation Day (21st April), this article will highlight just a few of the most extraordinary examples of creative thinking in STEM, which have each pushed us one step closer to reaching the SDGs.

Revolutionising the Agriculture Industry Through Vertical Farming

Science can often be perceived as a body of knowledge, a collection of facts, which need to be memorised. But in reality, science is about learning, observing and discovering new information. Scientific research is often a creative approach to find a new way to solve an ‘old problem’, such as food security. The issue of food security is alarming, and with our global population expected to rise to 9.7 billion by 2050, food shortages, deforestation and land degradation are likely to persist if we are to meet these growing demands [2].

Figure 1 - Sky Greens vertical farming system in Singapore. Rows of leafy greens being grown more sustainably than traditional field-farming. Credit: Sky Greens

The previous emphasis that scientific research has placed on food security has focussed on increasing crop yields and producing more tolerant crop strains by researching and designing genetically modified crops and creating pesticides and herbicides. However, these developments in technology have received backlash due to concerns regarding human health and do not address the environmental impacts of agriculture. Now, the industry is channelling its research and design efforts into a more sustainable kind of agriculture – indoor vertical farming. This idea was first proposed decades ago, however, it is only in the past 10 years it has been put in practice with Sky Greens, based in Singapore, being the world’s first low carbon hydraulic water driven vertical farming system (Fig. 1). By utilising natural sunlight, reusing and recycling water in their hydraulic system and having 10x higher yield per unit land area than traditional farming, this mode of agriculture is a promising leap for reaching food security in a more sustainable manner [3].

These types of indoor farms are now becoming common across the globe, providing prospects for further incorporation into the global farming sector. Despite this potential, not all countries have the ability to utilise natural sunlight year-round with start-up farm - Vertical Future in London, UK, are using LEDs to grow their produce, which leads to high energy usage. Furthermore, the cost of the infrastructure needed to house and grow these crops is high, leading to large start-up costs which is prohibiting mainstream use. However, by 2050 it is estimated that 68% of the world’s population will live in cities [4], and by incorporating vertical farming infrastructure in their development we could expect a reduction in the land cleared for farming practices and also a reduction in food miles and their associated CO2 emissions. Therefore, it is likely that these environmental benefits outweigh the issues regarding energy consumption. Also, as a suggestion, these farms could be housed in derelict buildings and factories which are no longer in use, regenerating areas and creating jobs for the local economy in the process. Ultimately, this solution has reimagined how we farm crops, there is now the possibility of large scale commercial farming within cities amongst the consumer point. This example shows how creative problem solving, through an interdisciplinary and imaginative application of STEM, is essential to accomplishing the SDGs as this type of farming could be a real solution to food security and the climate crisis.

Creativity for Clean Air

Figure 2 -The Smog Free Tower and the ring made from the compressed smog by-product. Credit: Studio Roosegaarde.

Engineering and creative design go hand in hand and when tackling the current issue of air pollution, Daan Roosegaarde and a team of experts have designed the world’s first smog vacuum cleaner structure, called the Smog Free Tower (Fig. 2) [5]. At its peak performance, the tower cleans 30,000 m3 of air per hour - enough air to fill over 2.5 million balloons! This innovation has gone even further by compressing the smog particles, the by-product, and turning them into rings which can be purchased. This type of innovation epitomises the values of a circular economy – a sustainable business model which aims to decouple economic growth from the use and exploitation of natural resources and ecosystems. This is achieved by using materials more efficiently and effectively by promoting recycling and upcycling to create commodities, rather than the ‘take-make-waste’ linear growth model. The circular economy is a driver of creative innovation which holds sustainability at its core and the Smog Free Tower demonstrates that this is an important growth model to follow in order to achieve the SDGs. I believe that we can expect innovations which are based on the circular economy model to make the biggest difference towards achieving the SDGs focussed on the environment.

Forward-Thinking Fashion

It is now well recognised that the fashion industry, especially ‘fast-fashion’, is contributing greatly to environmental degradation in the form of material waste and water pollution, as well as allowing hazardous working conditions and exploiting child labour and slavery. These are all problems that the SDGs seek to end.

Figure 3 - One piece swimsuit. Credit: Vaga Bella Swim

However, there are some forward-thinking fashion brands which uphold fair working conditions and pay, and ensure sustainability. One example is Vaga Bella Swim, a swimwear brand which uses 100% recycled materials, ensures products are ethically made and ships orders in 100% plastic free biodegradable postage materials [6]. Additionally, this company is a non-profit; donating to charities which are working on the world humanitarian problems, multiplying their positive impact on the SDGs.

Unfortunately, ethical and sustainable clothing does come at a cost; this one piece (Fig. 3) is priced at almost £140. This is not accessible to the general market and prices like this force consumers to head to fast fashion retailers which offer similar products at a much lower price. Therefore, while the philosophy behind Vaga Bella Swim is so encouraging and demonstrates that we can adapt current manufacturing practices to be more sustainable, having so few affordable options is preventing our progress.    

However, high street brand ZARA is starting to acknowledge this and take some responsibility.  In 2016 they launched their Join Life campaign, an initiative aiming to make more of their clothes sustainable, by using materials such as organic cotton and recycled polyester, and to run their stores 100% eco-efficiently and are committed to reducing a portion of their emissions by 90% by 2030 compared to 2018 [7]. Currently 30% of their items hold the Join Life label and 50% of their stores are eco-efficient, which is encouraging progress.

I believe sustainable, ethical and affordable fashion is achievable – evident by the decisions made by ZARA – however, more companies need to want to take responsibility and change. It is only with an increased number of sustainable options on the market that we will see a tangible difference. The technology needed to create sustainable fashion is readily available, it is now in the hands of us the consumers to increase the demand for more sustainable options and even moreso on the fashion industry to recognise it is time to do better.

Innovation is Words…And Practical Solutions

The World Health Organization states that 1 in 3 people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water, which leads to over 10% of the global disease burden [8]. WaterIsLife partnered with scientists and engineers at the University of Virginia to invent the Drinkable Book (Fig. 4), currently distributed in Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia and Haiti. The book teaches safe water habits and is printed on technologically advanced filter paper capable of killing deadly waterborne diseases by up to 99.9%. Once a page is torn out it can be used as a filter multiple times and can provide clean water for four years for a single person, therefore making the innovation rather sustainable [9].

Figure 4 - The Drinkable Book. Credit: WaterIsLife.

This ingenious solution is also self-sustaining, with no maintenance required, which I think makes it greatly different, and more practical, to many other safe drinking water innovations. Once the book is made, the user does not need to replace or maintain any parts of the invention, they just need to use it! Additionally, the book educates people about safe water practices which is one of the most important steps to minimise the outbreaks of waterborne diseases, therefore, addressing multiple problems simultaneously. I consider this invention to be a great example of creative thinking within STEM, as it demonstrates the ability to tackle multiple challenges raised by the SDGs with one idea.

Conclusion

Ultimately, we need creativity in STEM in order to reach the SDGs. Creativity is the force that imagines these inventions and STEM is our means for generating the positive change. I believe that creativity in STEM is what gives us the ability to look at things from another angle, come up with a solution which solves multiple problems or adapt something to make it more efficient and sustainable. Hopefully, looking at all these remarkable innovations and creative applications of STEM will inspire us to challenge the stereotypes of STEM disciplines and realise that creativity is one of humankind’s most valuable traits, essential to innovation, which will see us build a more equal, peaceful and sustainable future.

References

1. H. d'Orville, “The Relationship between Sustainability and Creativity,” Cadmus, vol. 4 no. 1, pp.65-73, 2019.

2. M. Elferink and F. Schierhorn, “Global Demand for Food Is Rising. Can We Meet It?,” Harvard Business Review, April 7, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://hbr.org/2016/04/global-demand-for-food-is-rising-can-we-meet-it. [Accessed 1 April 2021].

3. Sky Greens, “Sky Greens Vertical Farming System – The world’s first low carbon hydraulic commercial farming system,” n.d. [Online]. Available: https://www.skygreens.com/technology/. [Accessed 7 April 2021].

4. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN,” United Nations, May 16, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html#:~:text=News-,68%25%20of%20the%20world%20population%20projected%20to%20live%20in,areas%20by%202050%2C%20says%20UN&text=Today%2C%2055%25%20of%20the%20world's,increase%20to%2068%25%20by%202050. [Accessed 7 April 2021].

5. Studio Roosegaarde, “Smog Free Tower,” n.d. [Online]. Available: https://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/smog-free-tower. [Accessed 1 April 2021].

6. Vaga Bella Swim, “Sustainability,” n.d. [Online]. Available: https://vagabellaswim.com/pages/sustainability. [Accessed 2 April 2021].

7. ZARA, “Commitments,” n.d. [Online]. Available: https://www.zara.com/uk/en/z-commitment-mkt1390.html?v1=1243180. [Accessed 7 April 2021].

8.     World Health Organization, “1 in 3 people globally do not have access to safe drinking water – UNICEF, WHO,” June 18, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/news/item/18-06-2019-1-in-3-people-globally-do-not-have-access-to-safe-drinking-water-unicef-who. [Accessed 1 April 2021].

9.     WaterIsLife, “Clean Water,” n.d. [Online]. Available: https://waterislife.com/impact/clean-water. [Accessed 31 March 2021].

Publisher’s Note

Youth STEM 2030 remains neutral with regards to the aforementioned companies and organisations. Views expressed are those of the Author.