Tuesday, September 28, 2021
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
On Zoom
Remaking The Way We Make Things
By Distinguished Research Professor William McDonough
Abstract
The circular economy is a resourceful economic system and innovation engine, providing benefits to society in the present and the future. It moves production and use economies from “take, make, waste” to “take, make, retake, reuse, remake, restore.” It is designed to endlessly recirculate clean materials, energy, water, and human ingenuity. In essence, the circular economy puts the ‘re’ back in resources.
Cradle to Cradle Design™ encourages us to step back from the routines of daily problem-solving and rethink the frame conditions which shape our designs, and this session will explore its role in a safe first, then circular economy. Drawing on ideas initially put forth in Cradle to Cradle: Remaking The Way We Make Things, which McDonough co-authored in 2002, Cradle to Cradle Design for the Circular Economy makes sure “goods” truly are good and reusable in the Regenerative Biosphere and Circular Technosphere.
McDonough will explain how applying this approach to molecules, products, buildings, landscapes, cities, eco-systems and the planet can productively transform design decisions.
About the speaker
William McDonough is a globally recognized leader in sustainable design and development. He co-authored Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (2002), widely recognized as a seminal text of both the sustainability and the Circular Economy design movements.
He advises global leaders through McDonough Innovation, is an architect with William McDonough + Partners and provides counsel through MBDC, the creators of the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Products Program. He has been active with the World Economic Forum for 25 years and served as the inaugural chair of their Meta-Council on the Circular Economy. McDonough has advised senior leadership at companies such as Google, Ford Motor Company, Unilever and Walmart.
He is a Distinguished Research Professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) focused on Circular Carbon Economy. He has been on the faculty of Stanford University (2004-present) and served as the A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University (1999-2004) and Dean of the School of Architecture and the Edward E. Elson Endowed Chair at the University of Virginia (1994-1999).
McDonough received the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development (1996), the first U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (2003), the National Design Award (2004) and the Fortune Award for Circular Economy Leadership (2017). Time magazine recognized him as a “Hero for the Planet,” noting: “His utopianism is grounded in a unified philosophy that—in demonstrable and practical ways—is changing the design of the world,” and in 2019 Fortune magazine named him #24 of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.
This event is brought to you by Students for Sustainability, with the support of Graduate Events and Recreation and the Head of KAUST Sustainability, Dr. Ana Margarida Costa. Should you have any questions, please contact us at s.square@kaust.edu.sa