The brief tells you what to make. It rarely tells you why it matters or how to make the business case for doing it better.

Designers who lead don't just respond to briefs. They shape the conditions that make better products, systems, and decisions possible. And in a business landscape where sustainability is increasingly tied to competitive advantage, regulatory pressure, and long-term value, that leadership capacity has never been more critical for designers to own.

This workshop will give you the tools to do exactly that.

Hosted by The Sustainable Design Project in collaboration with AIGA and Climate Designers, this hands-on session is built for design practitioners who want to make a credible internal case for sustainable innovation.

You'll leave able to:

• Apply frameworks that integrate sustainability into both digital and physical product work
• Draw on real-world examples of sustainable design initiatives with measurable outcomes
• Develop new value propositions and revenue opportunities through structured peer collaboration with the Sustainable Business Model Canvas
• Articulate the business value of sustainable design in language leadership actually responds to.

This is part lecture and part working session.

You'll pressure-test ideas, collaborate in small groups, and walk away with tools and a sharper point of view!

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Speakers/Facilitators:

Behnosh Najafi believes designers are one of the most underleveraged forces in sustainable business innovation, and she's built her career proving it. As Co-Founder of The Sustainable Design Project and a veteran of complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives for clients including the Gates Foundation, REI, and WA State Department of Ecology, she translates that conviction into tools practitioners can use.

Alexander Crease works with organizations to turn sustainability strategies into defensible proof and actionable design decisions. Operating at the intersection of systems thinking, business strategy, and product design, he translates environmental performance into measurable competitive advantage for organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 500s. At The Sustainable Design Project, he co-leads hands-on workshops that help teams identify lifecycle hotspots, rethink products, and build strong business cases for action.