Sustainable and Circular Product Development Specialization
This specialization reframes product development from a linear “use and discard” model to a circular approach focused on full lifecycle design.
You’ll learn circular product and packaging strategies, including Design for R, material selection, and end-of-life planning. The curriculum draws on frameworks from Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, IDEO, Biomimicry 3.8, and the CIRCit project, covering lifecycle analysis and global certification standards.
Designed for product developers, it provides practical tools to create environmentally responsible products.
Hands-on work includes product teardowns, sustainable material experiments, label analysis, and applying circular design frameworks, alongside training in circular economy strategy and leadership.
In this specialization, you will learn how to:
- Apply Design-for-R principles of circular product design
- Analyze different circular product design frameworks for alignment with different product development processes.
- Identify materials that best meet circular product design objectives.
- Analyze packaging systems to identify sustainable and not-so-sustainable attributes.
Courses
- Product Design for the Circular Economy
- Packaging Design for the Circular Economy
- Circular Product Design Frameworks and Certifications
This specialization 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. Learn more about the ME-EM program.