Tamara Hoveling

Healthcare saves lives, but at the same time belongs to the most polluting sectors in the world. While the pressure on the healthcare system increases, the foundation remains largely linear: produce, use, discard. From her doctoral research, Tamara Hoveling shows how circular design can change healthcare — from less waste to smarter and more sustainable medical technology. About how a sector that revolves around health can itself become sustainable.

A lot of medical technology has been developed from a limited perspective, resulting in the experiences of women being structurally insufficiently considered in design, research, and practice. This has consequences for diagnosis, treatment, and trust in care. With the story behind the Lilium, Tamara Hoveling shows how these blind spots arise — and why they are so persistent in medical innovation. About what changes when women themselves also determine how care and technology are designed.

Medical technology must comply with strict safety standards, but in practice, this often results in products being replaced, rejected, or no longer used faster than necessary. What is “safe on paper” can lead to unnecessary waste of materials, money, and capacity. At the same time, what is perceived as safe by healthcare providers and patients does not always align with what is technically established in protocols. This gap largely determines how technology is used — and how much unnecessarily ends up in the healthcare waste stream.

Healthcare is digitalising at a rapid pace, from electronic patient records to smart medical devices and digital monitoring. But more technology does not automatically lead to better or more sustainable care. Sometimes digital solutions replace simple alternatives, resulting in additional material use, energy consumption, and e-waste. About when digitalisation truly adds value — and when it mainly increases complexity and impact.

Many medical products and healthcare processes are designed from the perspective of one standard user. However, in practice, patients and healthcare providers differ greatly in body, experience, language, trust, and context. As a result, what is “averagely well designed” does not always align with the reality of healthcare. About how design determines who is well served — and who is structurally less well included.