업사이클링 시제품 개발을 통한 디자인 주도 ESG 모델 연구

This study investigates a case of upcycled musical instrument prototype development conducted at a public educational institution and proposes a design-driven ESG practice model grounded in prototype production. Focusing on the full process from a waste plastic bottle-cap collection campaign to kalimba production, donation, performance education, and a joint concert, the study examines how product design activities can be extended into a broader structure of social practice. In particular, it identifies how the prototype-making process expands beyond technical production into education, performance, donation, and local collaboration, thereby enabling the design process to function as a structural mechanism for the generation and diffusion of ESG values. A qualitative case study method was employed. The analysis focused on documents and archival records generated throughout the stages of material, structural, and usability design decisions, as well as prototyping, validation, and diffusion. The findings reveal that upcycled musical instrument prototypes function not merely as eco-friendly outputs, but as mediating artifacts that sequentially connect environmental campaign participation, production and performance education, collective performance, donation, and regional collaboration. Through this process, the outcomes generated in the course of product design planning, production, and use can be understood as part of a performance system in which environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) values are expanded and accumulated. The study further suggests that this system encompasses both qualitative and quantitative performance categories, including circular design practices, participation-based education and social expansion, and the establishment of collaborative governance. The findings confirm that design decision-making can be developed into an actionable model through which social value creation is systematically structured, extended, and accumulated. In this regard, the study demonstrates that design can move beyond a supportive role and serve as a driving mechanism for ESG practice in public education and community-based collaboration.