Make it Loop:
Circular Design Challenge

Learn about Circular Design and develop projects for the Circular Economy!

CLOSED

Duration

8 Weeks

FEB 26 - APR 22, 2024

Location

Virtual

Self-paced

Register Until:

Feb. 23

11:59 PM CET

Program Fee

Free

Credentials

Certificate

*Upon Request

Prize 1: Blue Factory Incubation Program

The Blue Factory's 4-month incubation program features dynamic online sessions where you will immerse yourself in one-hour masterclasses led by seasoned entrepreneurs, experience invaluable mentoring sessions, and elevate your presentation skills through a dedicated online pitch session.

Engage in customized workshops and events crafted by ESCP Business School's prestigious campuses in London, Paris, Berlin, and Turin, tailored to meet your specific needs. Benefit from individualized coaching sessions and gain access to coworking facilities based on your location and requirements.

Prize 2: Membership with Impact Hub

The Impact Hub Berlin (IHB) offers their connect membership, granting access to their co-working and maker spaces in Berlin once per month with meeting rooms, makerspace, podcast recording booth. They will also have access to their online and in-person events and robust local (450+) and global (25.000+) community and network.

Members also have access to free consulting services from BCG Consulting as well as the IHB team.

Learn about circular design and develop and pitch your very own project!

Linear design practices continue to deplete resources, generate excessive waste, and harm the environment, but you as an innovator hold the key to a more sustainable future.

During this free 8-week course and Design Challenge, you’ll immerse yourself in our dynamic, interactive modules and collaborate with like-minded visionaries. Guided by experts, you’ll be introduced to circular design principles and approaches. Your mission: to design and present a circular product or system.

By participating in this challenge, you’ll gain profound insights into sustainable approaches to design, fueling your own portfolio.

Plus, you’ll have a chance to pitch to a panel of experts and win a prize!

Your Design Journey:

Welcome and Introduction (Zoom*)

The Current State of Things
The problem with “take, make, and waste”
Intro to key systems for reversing the Overshoot

Circular Design
Circular Design and Circular Economy basics
Case studies

Systems Thinking

Project Conceptualization

Exploring Life Cycle Strategies
How to conduct your own Life Cycle Assessment

Product Development
Making it Real

PITCH DAY! (Apr. 22)

What you’ll Learn:

Develop an understanding of the problems that stem from linear design practices and get a deeper look into how Systems Thinking and circular design can help
An introduction to circular design (as it applies to Food Systems, Manufactured Goods, the Built Environment, and Mobility/Transportation)
How to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Important skills and concepts for the Circular Economy such as regenerative development, planet-centric design, and circular design
How to conceptualize a project and how to visualize, communicate, and present a design concept for your portfolio

Your Instructors

FAQs

Circular design is an approach that emphasizes sustainability by minimizing waste and maximizing resource efficiency throughout a product's life cycle.
It involves designing products with materials that can be easily recycled, repurposed, or biodegraded to create a “closed-loop system”. Systems that support circular products or services can also be thoughtfully designed for this purpose.
This approach is important because it reduces environmental impact, lowers resource depletion, and promotes a more sustainable economy. Circular design helps break away from the traditional linear "take-make-dispose" model, contributing to a regenerative system that aligns with ecological principles. Ultimately, it addresses the pressing need for more responsible and environmentally conscious design practices.
This course is for aspiring sustainable designers, professionals looking to upskill, and creatives/enthusiasts interested in sustainability and who want to make a positive impact on the environment and society. There is no age restriction for participation, and you do not need to have prior design experience.
This Design Challenge is a process for innovation as well as a competition, in this case, used to introduce you to new circular and sustainability themes, as well as a tool for generating impactful ideas for design solutions. The goal of this Challenge is to explore ways to create innovations for the Green Economy and to build a more climate-positive future.
The design sprint will last 8 weeks between February 26th - April 19th 2024, during which you will create a design proposal with the support of our free e-course, expert network, and webinars. This proposal will be in the form of a presentation, through which you will visually convey your concept, process, and any testing you have done.
On April 22nd, you will pitch your concept to a panel of judges, and on Friday, April 26th, we will announce the overall winners!
Although we highly encourage you to participate in the Design Challenge and conceptualize a project, you are not required to do so. If you would like to make a project, but do not want to pitch, that’s also ok! This is a free program designed to introduce you to new, circular approaches to design, and it is up to you how you use it.
You own whatever you design during the Design Sprint. Aula Future may use photos or descriptions of your work for marketing future design challenges or on our website. You can choose to opt-out by informing us via email.