Sustainable and Circular Product Development
University of Colorado Boulder via Coursera Specialization
Overview
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Developing more circular products requires a much different design paradigm. The Sustainable and Circular Product Development specialization shifts the thinking of product development from a linear economic model, where products are designed to be used then thrown away, to a more circular economic model, where nothing ends up in a landfill. Today’s product designers need to be aware of the entire product lifecycle.
This specialization explores circular product and packaging design, including Design for R strategies, material selection techniques, and planning for end-of-life recycling and composting. The tools, design frameworks and certification protocols come from organizations such as the Cradle-to-Cradle Products Innovation Institute, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, IDEO, Biomimicry 3.8, and a relatively recent effort known as the CIRCit Circular Product Design and Development project. The courses within the specialization discuss everything from the material flows throughout a product's lifecycle to how products can be certified by rigorous 3rd-party standards recognized across the globe.
If you are responsible for developing the next generation products that are not only better for your customers, but also beneficial to the environment, then this specialization is for you. It is a practical, hands-on guide that enables you to become a leader in the transition to a more circular economy.
Syllabus
- Course 1: Product Design for the Circular Economy
- Course 2: Packaging Design for the Circular Economy
- Course 3: Circular Product Design Frameworks and Certifications
Courses
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This first course in the Sustainable and Circular Product Development specialization illustrates the product design tools necessary to implement Circular Economy (CE) principles. The course begins with an overview of the Circular Economy and why it is necessary today. It then discusses the design strategies involving Design for the Environment (DfE) and Design for “R”, where R refers to Reuse, Repair, Remanufacturing, and Recycling. This course goes deeper into the world of recycling, highlighting what happens at a Material Recovery Facility, or MRF, and the innovative sorting technologies recently developed to make recycling more cost-effective. Finally, the course shows the correlation between population, affluence and consumption patterns, and how that limits the availability of materials for products, emphasizing the subsequent importance of a circular economy. The course ends by highlighting ways product designers can select the appropriate materials to achieve circularity objectives and make eco-informed decisions. This course was developed in collaboration with Siemens Digital Industries Software and is part of the "Design for the Circular Economy" collection. Learners who complete and pass the course can receive an industry-recognized digital badge. The “Design for the Circular Economy” microcredential and graduate certificate are developed around the educational goals of providing technical, business, and leadership knowledge and skills that inspire the transformation towards a more circular economy. This includes gaining technical knowledge to apply circular economy principles in product design, minimizing waste and maximizing impact; developing business acumen to implement innovative circular economic models that prioritize sustainability and resilience; and acquiring leadership strategies to communicate effectively and inspire change within an organization. This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Engineering in Engineering Management (ME-EM) degree offered on the Coursera platform. The ME-EM is designed to help engineers, scientists, and technical professionals move into leadership and management roles in the engineering and technical sectors. With performance-based admissions and no application process, the ME-EM is ideal for individuals with a broad range of undergraduate education and/or professional experience. Learn more about the ME-EM program at https://www.coursera.org/degrees/me-engineering-management-boulder.
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The Circular Economy is about zero waste, where products are disassembled into their constituent components, either to be recycled or composted. While considerable attention has focused on the product itself, a product can only be sustainable or circular if the packaging it comes in is also sustainable and circular. This second course in the “Sustainable and Circular Product Development” specialization provides an overview of packaging today, and how it is evolving to become more sustainable. Topics include defining sustainable and circular packaging, packaging as a system, design and functionality, conventional and innovative packaging materials, advances in recycling technologies, and rethinking our approach to packaging. This course was developed in collaboration with Siemens Digital Industries Software and is part of the "Design for the Circular Economy" collection. Learners who complete and pass the course can receive an industry-recognized digital badge. The “Design for the Circular Economy” microcredential and graduate certificate are developed around the educational goals of providing technical, business, and leadership knowledge and skills that inspire the transformation towards a more circular economy. This includes gaining technical knowledge to apply circular economy principles in product design, minimizing waste and maximizing impact; developing business acumen to implement innovative circular economic models that prioritize sustainability and resilience; and acquiring leadership strategies to communicate effectively and inspire change within an organization. This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Engineering in Engineering Management (ME-EM) degree offered on the Coursera platform. The ME-EM is designed to help engineers, scientists, and technical professionals move into leadership and management roles in the engineering and technical sectors. With performance-based admissions and no application process, the ME-EM is ideal for individuals with a broad range of undergraduate education and/or professional experience. Learn more about the ME-EM program at https://www.coursera.org/degrees/me-engineering-management-boulder.
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Circular Product Design Frameworks and Certifications is the third and final course of the Circular Product Development for the Circular Economy specialization. The aim of this course is to explore different circular design frameworks such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's collaboration with IDEO to create a Circular Product Design Guide, the partnership between industry and research teams that culminated in the CIRCit Guide to Circular Product Design and Development, and Biomimicry 3.8's Guide to best practices. If the first two courses in the specialization describe what circular product and packaging design is and what it can achieve, this course is about the processes and methodologies necessary to make it happen. The course begins by examining the motivation for circular product design, highlighting what is happening at major corporations such as IKEA, as well as for regulatory mandates, such as the European Union's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (the ESPR). The course then dives into the Ellen MacArthur Foundation-IDEO's 4-Phase Design Guide based on human-centered design and design thinking. The Circular Product Design approach defined by the CIRCit Project is also examined in detail, as it dovetails nicely into existing stage-gate product development processes. The course then briefly discusses biomimicry as an innovative way to emulate nature's solutions to today's challenges. Increasingly, consumers (and investors!) are interested in more sustainable and circular products, and one way of demonstrating a company's success is with a 3rd party certification. Therefore, the course wraps up with a focus on the Cradle-to-Cradle Products Innovation Institute’s certification process. Included in this course is a comprehensive set of tools, worksheets, and activities that can be used by any product design team interested in developing circular products that benefit both people and the environment. This course was developed in collaboration with Siemens Digital Industries Software and is part of the "Design for the Circular Economy" collection. Learners who complete and pass the course can receive an industry-recognized digital badge. The “Design for the Circular Economy” microcredential and graduate certificate are developed around the educational goals of providing technical, business, and leadership knowledge and skills that inspire the transformation towards a more circular economy. This includes gaining technical knowledge to apply circular economy principles in product design, minimizing waste and maximizing impact; developing business acumen to implement innovative circular economic models that prioritize sustainability and resilience; and acquiring leadership strategies to communicate effectively and inspire change within an organization. This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Engineering in Engineering Management (ME-EM) degree offered on the Coursera platform. The ME-EM is designed to help engineers, scientists, and technical professionals move into leadership and management roles in the engineering and technical sectors. With performance-based admissions and no application process, the ME-EM is ideal for individuals with a broad range of undergraduate education and/or professional experience. Learn more about the ME-EM program at https://www.coursera.org/degrees/me-engineering-management-boulder.
Taught by
Michael J. Readey, Ph.D.