Navigating Sustainable Product Design: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Path Forward
As the urgency of climate action grows, so does the pressure on organizations, product designers and strategists to create offerings that are both viable for the business and sustainable for the planet. Yet for many professionals, the road to circular, low-impact, or regenerative design is anything but straightforward. How do we move past buzzwords and high-level corporate strategies to create real change in our work and within our organizations?
This event is designed to spark connection, conversation, and clarity for anyone interested in working at the intersection of product design and sustainability. Whether you’re deep in the work or just starting to explore sustainable design, this event will help you orient yourself within the evolving landscape of sustainable product and service design.
Our Panelists:
Mike Alcazaren is a sustainability-focused product leader with over a decade of experience spanning aerospace engineering, cleantech entrepreneurship, and his current role helping decarbonize Amazon Devices & Services. His career journey includes launching consumer products that help reduce carbon emissions, including internal carbon footprinting tools, the Amazon Smart Thermostat, and the Alexa energy dashboard. Mike is a University at Buffalo engineering graduate with an MBA from Simon Business School, with a goal to maximize his career's decarbonization impact.
Johnnie Wagman is a strategic design leader with a passion for shaping the future. With a background in product innovation, sustainability and human-centered design, she helps brands innovate for the climate era.
Event Schedule:
Welcome; About the Sustainable Design Project
Panel Discussion
Mike Alcazaren, Senior Technical Product Manager, Amazon Devices Sustainability
Johnnie Wagman, Founding Member + Principal Consultant, Matterall
Q & A
Group Discussion
Next Steps
About the Sustainable Design Project:
We are a community of design professionals- systems thinkers, researchers, strategists, industrial designers, service designers and beyond- advancing the future of sustainable and circular design across products, services, business models, and ecosystems. Our goal is to strengthen the field by connecting practitioners, surfacing emerging insights, and building the capabilities needed to design for lasting, systemic change. Join us to be part of a dynamic, forward-looking community shaping the next generation of sustainable innovation.