Korea Institute of Design Promotion Publishes Casebook on Achievements of the "2025 Sustainable Design Support Project"

Showcasing 10 Innovative Business Model Cases

The Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP) announced on April 15 that it has published a casebook highlighting the major achievements of the "2025 Sustainable Design Support Project."

The Sustainable Design Support Project is an initiative that supports companies developing business models (BMs) in 11 key fields addressing social issues—such as safety/security, disaster prevention/response, and health/well-being—by employing a service design methodology.

The newly published casebook provides a detailed account of the development processes and achievements of innovative business models by 10 selected companies, covering areas such as public service innovation, climate change response, and social welfare. It also introduces the specialized service design processes used to solve the challenges faced by these companies, including STEEP analysis, stakeholder mapping, and user research.

A representative example is the consortium formed by "VDream" (supported company) and "MACO" (design-specialized company), which developed the interface for "FLIPPED," an HR and remote work management system for people with disabilities. This interface was awarded the Bronze Prize in the service category at the Global Design IT Award 2025.

Another case features "DBWD," which developed "ReturnPay," a digital platform that refunds bottle deposit fees as transportation mileage or points. Based on this, the company signed a business agreement with Soonchunhyang University, laying the groundwork for the voluntary circular economy culture to spread around universities in the future.

Kang Yoonjoo, President of the Korea Institute of Design Promotion, stated, "Sustainable design is now an essential strategy for survival rather than a matter of choice," adding, "I hope this casebook of achievements serves as an indicator of innovation that inspires companies aiming to simultaneously create environmental, social, and economic value through design."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.