Trend Talks: Actions for the benefit of others become a social trend

LIFE WITH PURPOSE Social media, television and the internet give us access to news from around the world, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are increasingly informed about what is happening and are shocked by the excess of bad news. The discomfort it causes us makes us want to do something good. “In the world of design and art, it is increasingly common to see professionals involved in social and charitable causes. British designer Benjamin Hubert, for example, recently designed a piggy bank to encourage donations to Maggie's Cancer Care, a charity that supports cancer patients. Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is creating works to raise awareness about the plight of refugees,” says Lisa White, trends expert at WGSN/HBL. But these initiatives are not exclusive to artists. Ordinary people also want to make a difference. They want life to be kinder. And to have a purpose. “The new generations are no longer interested in living to make money at any cost. They are looking for a better quality of life. That is why they are turning more to spirituality. Personal and professional life must truly have meaning,” says trends expert Sabina Deweik.

“I have the feeling that humanity has been through all kinds of experiences, whether in politics, the economy, society... and now we are living in a time of filtering our energies and investing in what is good: in well-being, in spirituality, in expanding our view of the world and others,” says architect Daniela Giovana Corso, from the Nowhere office, which specializes in architectural projects for events, and who maintained the “When I walk” project during a period when she lived in New York: walking 14 hours a day, she would photograph the beautiful and interesting spots in the city and post them on Instagram. “It is a way of showing people that cities are not only ugly or violent. I believe that this is a way for architects to give of themselves. And in this way I feel that I also make a difference in people’s lives,” she adds. Marcelo Rosenbaum is another example of a professional who also decided to use his skills and knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others. With the project “A Gente Transforma” (AGT), launched in 2010, the designer and his team focus on specific communities with the aim of helping them grow economically and socially through the crafts they produce. “Our goal is development through design, but with a very contemporary perspective that connects the local with the global,” says Rosenbaum. A recent survey of future CEOs of companies, students at the London School of Economics, found that most of them put purpose (what I can do for the world) above profit (what the WORLD can do for me). Therefore, among the flags of this new generation, called Millennials, is also the reduction of consumption. After a long era of excess, now the focus is on what is meaningful, beautiful and necessary. In big cities, this can mean living in a 28 m² shipping container, or having only the things you need to live, as is the case of Japanese editor Fumio Sasaki, who has only three shirts, four pairs of pants and four pairs of socks in his closet. The editor says in his Facebook video that he follows minimalism, a movement that originated in Japan and has been growing all over the world. For its followers, it is not about spending less, but focusing on what you really like, having fewer things so you can carry them around the world, and having more time for friends, family, outings and travel. “I was always thinking about what I didn’t have. I freed myself from frustration and anxiety,” he says in his video. [youtube ]