Design, Justice & Zero Waste Conference
The Tishman Environment and Design Center and Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) partnered in May of 2018 to develop a conference and research collaboration called Design, Justice & Zero Waste: Exploring Pathways to a Circular Economy.
The goal of the conference was to bring together experts from around the world and from a variety of fields to share and showcase innovative designs, advocacy campaigns, and scholarly research across this often siloed field. Designers, architects, business representatives, and activists came together to discuss the diverse parts of a circular economy.
At the conference, participants developed a Circular Economy Action Plan and Research Collaborative for long-term partnerships and information sharing.
Annie Leonard, the executive director of Greenpeace, delivered the keynote speech. Leonard is a proponent of sustainability and a critic of consumerism. She has over two decades of experience investigating and explaining the environmental and social impacts of our stuff: where it comes from, how it gets to us, and where it goes after we get rid of it. Her film, The Story of Stuff, blossomed into The Story of Stuff Project, which works to empower people around the globe to fight for a more sustainable and just future. Her keynote talk is below.