Karsten is a trained industrial mechanic for machine and system technology and a qualified product designer. Since his studies he has been working on "New Materials in Product Design".
 
From 2005-2013 he was Director Library & Materials Research, significantly involved in building and managing the world's largest materials library for the New York-based consulting company Material ConneXion. In 2013, the materials expert founded MRC - Materials Research & Consulting, a consulting company for innovative and sustainable product development. MRC advises development departments of well-known companies from Europe, Asia and the USA.
 
In 2019 he founded "The Circular Materials GmbH". The company develops and produces tailor-made materials and products for the circular economy.
 
Since 2009 he has been teaching "Material & Design" and "Sustainability & Circular Design Practice" at various engineering, design and architecture universities.

Professor Martin Charter MBA FRSA is the Founding Director of The Centre for Sustainable Design ® at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) that was established in 1995. Martin has more than 29 year’s experience in a wide range of topics related to sustainable business with particular expertise in sustainable innovation and product sustainability. Martin has sat on many international expert committees and advisory boards including P&G, Interface, World Resources Forum and Eco-innovation Observatory. He is the organizer of the Sustainable Innovation series of international conferences that is now in its 21st year. Martin has authored research on new ‘green’ business models, sustainable innovation, product design and remanufacturing and marketing & sustainability.

Julius Wiedemann's book "Product Design in the Sustainable Era" is one of the most influential books on sustainable design. Julius Wiedemann was born in Brazil where he studied design and marketing. As Executive Editor for Design and Pop Culture as well as Director for Digital Publications at the international publishing house TASCHEN, he was responsible for more than 40 books. He is the author of numerous magazine contributions and has already been involved as a juror in several international competitions. In total, more than 1.5 million copies of Wiedemann's publications have been sold worldwide, including titles such as "Information Graphics," "Product Design in the Sustainable Era," "Illustration Now!", "Logo Design," and "Japanese Graphics Now! ", and many more.

Meike Weber developed new contents and formats around the architectural trade magazine DETAIL for 15 years. Among other she worked on DETAIL research as an open network of architecture, business, research and politics. Detail research uses various formats to convey topics on the "future of building" based on research results and studies on the effects of social change and megatrends on architecture and the city. For several years, she has also been responsible for teaching at the Institute for International Trendscouting of the Faculty of Design at the HAWK Hildesheim and advises various committees from business, NGOs, teaching, research and politics.

Peter Michel is an experienced, multi-dimensional and purpose-driven international entrepreneur, adviser and bridge builder. Since the early 1990s, he has been actively engaged in catalysing systemic change, responsible business, impact investing and the circular economy. Peter Michel looks at the world through a different lens, using his intuition, knowledge and wide web of relations for the benefit of people, organisations and Mother Nature. He is the (co-)author of eight books, stood at the cradle of the European B Corp Community and is the co-founder of ZVRGN, a transformative and regenerative business facilitation and advisory group empowering the New World.

After studying business and marketing between Rome, Lisbon and Milan, Gabriele worked as Product Manager for Candy Hoover. In 2017 he launched Isola Design District, and in 2020 isola.design, physical and digital design platforms for international emerging designers and independent design studios.

Katrin de Louw studied interior design, trend expert and since 1997 Owner and Managing Director of TRENDFILTER®- design future for furniture and materials. Her passion for interior architecture, trends, design and her curiosity led her go to China in the early 2000s, where she worked for Häcker Küchen and Tom Tailor, among others, designing concept stores and being responsible for the on-site construction as well as various product developments. The topics of the future and ecology were always important sources of inspiration and motivation for her work as a trend scout. Since 2007, she has been giving talks on interior trends to decision-makers in the furniture industry, is an author for trade journals, a juror for renowned juries and is seen today as one of the leading experts on interior and furniture trends, materials and surfaces. In the course of her 25-year career, she initiated two successful business networks: FURNITURE FUTURE FORUM as a trend forum in the center of the German furniture industry in East Westphalia, and the still young COLORNETWORK®, which thinks color sustainably for the first time and makes products transparent for planners in their cradle to cradle cycle. 

Xin Liu is Vice Director of the Art and Science Research Center of the Institute of Sustainable Design at Tsinghua University. His main research in on Sustainable Design, User Research and Product Service System Design. He is the director of LeNS-China (The Learning Network on Sustainability), which includes China's top 15 universities and co-founder of DESIS-China, an alliance for social innovation and sustainable design in China. Additionally, he is Chairman of the Tsinghua University’s DESIS International Alliance Academy of Arts & Design. In 2012, he was elected Educational Officer of the "Excellent University Talents of the Turn of the Century".

Leonne Cuppen studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven and immediately after graduating in 1990 she started a design agency for furniture and interior design and the Yksi Expo foundation, a platform to promote sustainable and circular design. She was one of the initiators of what is now Dutch Design Week, with which she is still associated (advisory board), founded the Designhuis Eindhoven in 2007 together with Lidewij Edelkoort and the municipality of Eindhoven, is part of various juries, advisory committees and board positions. In addition, Leonne curates, designs and realizes exhibitions that can be seen in other places in the world, from Beijing to Barcelona and from Moscow to Madrid.

Andrea Herold founded InteriorPark. together with Tina Kammer in 2010. As a consultant, she develops and 
sustainability strategies for companies. In workshops, she provides well-founded market developments and accompanies pioneers of sustainability in their positioning. 
She designs and prepares sustainability reports in accordance with international GRI  standards, which transparently present both the status quo and the sustainability strategy.

Katharina Feuer has been editor of the interior trade magazine md INTERIOR DESIGN ARCHITECTURE since 2013. The interior designer brings several years of publishing experience in various functions with her and is responsible for the online presence www.md-mag.com.  Her goal: to provide inspiration and background knowledge for interior designers. With the interview series "Im Gespräch“ (In Conversation), she regularly introduces interior architects, designers and other exciting personalities from the industry. By putting alternative approaches to conventional planning methods on the podium, she lowers the inhibition threshold for sustainable building. For good reason: she wants a world worth living in for her two daughters in the future.

Sven Fischer is managing director and shareholder of LUWE GmbH, together with his business partner Stephan Ley, self-employed entrepreneur since 2006, member of jury and advisory boards, lecturer for sustainable development and sustainable product design, hobby astronomer and Diplom Designer.

For more than 20 years, Sven has been working as a transformer for sustainable development in science, business and society. As a specialist for sustainable transformation design and as a consultant for sustainability in companies and publics, Sven successfully supports, connects and mediates a wide range of stakeholders from a wide variety of industries and shows everyone the individually suitable sustainability path:

“Some of these new routes are proving to be shorter and easier than expected, while others are slightly longer and more winding. However, the goal of a sustainable transformation never gets out of focus and there are always completely new, exciting and rewarding perspectives. On this path, transformation courage is needed in order to be able to transfer sustainability to the masses.”

As Managing Director of the online market place Avocadostore.de, Mimi Sewalski is always on the look-out for new product ideas. She has been working with many sustainable start-ups from their beginning and helps them with online presence in brand building and product development.

Avocadostore.de offers more than 200.000 green products from 750 retailers from all over Germany. All the products offered must meet at least one of the sustainability criteria set by Avocadostore.de. Mimi Sewalski studied Sociology and Criminology in Munich. In 2005 she moved to Israel and worked there in a high-tech start-up in the eCommercials. At the same time, she became involved in the plastics recycling sector in Tel Aviv.

Since 2011, she is part of Avocadostore.de.

Melodie Abdollahi is co-founder of Haus von Eden. Before that, she worked for a long time in management consulting and strategic development for large corporations. She spent several years in China and gained expertise in industrial production. There she experienced first-hand the direct consequences of the Western world's fast-paced consumption and decided to do something about it. Her focus is on corporate social responsibility, which is why she was instrumental in designing the scoring model and the sustainability criteria of Haus von Eden. Based on this, the positive actions of sustainably operating companies are highlighted on the platform. Haus von Eden is the first German-language platform for sustainable design & lifestyle as a reliable contact point for conscious consumers who do not want to forego aesthetics.

Robert Pludra is an industrial designer and an assistant professor at the Faculty of Design, Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he was a Deputy Dean ( 2016-2019).  His design office is focused on product, social and exhibition design as well as leading design workshops .  In 2013 Robert defended his PhD thesis in social design. He is a member of the Association of Industrial Designers (associated in BEDA). He participated in more than fifty exhibitions at the most important design festivals (in Milan, London, Paris, Berlin or Tokyo). He is a laureate of many competitions and scholarships.  

Kiersten Muenchinger is an Associate Professor in the Product Design Program and one of the principles in the Green Product Design Network at the University of Oregon. She was honored with the Sustainable Practice Impact Award in 2018. Muenchinger researches and teaches the intersection of materials, manufacturing and design with an emphasis on sustainability tactics and metrics. Her research utilizes Kansei engineering principles to measure how consumers perceive the sustainability of materials. Kiersten was named “Young Educator of the Year” in 2011by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), and one of the Design Intelligence 30 Most Admired Educators for 2015. Before joining UO, Kiersten was a design engineer with IDEO, Fitch, Sottsass Associatti, and Walt Disney Imagineering.

Raz is an Assistant Professor of Strategic Design and Management at Parsons School of Design - The New School in NY, where he explores sustainable business models and how companies can respond effectively to the climate crisis. Currently, he serves as an Associate Director of the Strategic Design & Management BBA Program. Raz is the co-founder of two green startups (Hemper Jeans and Eco-Libris) and the author of Rethinking Corporate Sustainability in the Era of Climate Crisis (Palgrave Macmillan, July 2021).

Katarzyna Dulko-Gaszyna has been in charge of the implementation of the global sustainability strategy for IKEA Deutschland as Sustainability Manager since 2020. She studied political and environmental sciences in Poland and Germany and subsequently worked as CSR Officer at Ringier Axel Springer Polska. For the past nine years, before coming to Germany, Katarzyna was responsible for sustainability management for IKEA Poland. She wants to contribute to making environmentally friendly solutions affordable and accessible for many people at IKEA. "The focus of my work is the transformation to a circular economy," she says. "In addition to reducing carbon dioxide, we want to enable sustainable consumption for millions of customers."

Claus-Christian Eckhardt was appointed in 2001 as professor and director of Lund University School of Industrial Design in Sweden. He studied industrial design at the Braunschweig University of Art. After graduating, he worked for Silvestrin Design, Blaupunkt and Bosch, where later he became head of design. He led the design activities of Tenovis and Avaya. He also a freelance designer since 2000.

After studying communication design at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Stan Skolnik worked for renowned communication agencies such as Springer & Jacoby, KNSK and Heye. There he worked as art director for international companies such as Deutsche Telekom, Mercedes Benz and Castrol.

Afterwards, Prof. Dipl.-Des. Stan Skolnik worked at Gruner + Jahr Verlag and developed the title concept and design of Stern magazine.

This was followed by the founding of his own limited liability company and many years of work as Managing Director Creation, looking after international, listed companies as well as various authorities and ministries.

Prof. Stan Skolnik teaches media design at the IU International University in Hamburg and is a member of the German Designer Club.

Petra Schmatz studied political science in combination with economics and law at the University of Passau. After graduating, she joined AVR Verlag in Munich in 2004 and has since been writing passionately in various departments for its magazines. As a Bavarian child from the countryside, Petra Schmatz is privately very committed to a sustainable lifestyle. That's why she finds her work as editorial director at green Lifestyle magazine a special highlight of her job and a personal enrichment. She sees tracking down green trends, news and innovations and reporting on them as a great opportunity to make the world a little bit better, bit by bit. In her editorial work, Petra Schmatz focuses primarily on the areas of eco-fair fashion and organic food & beverage.

Tina Kammer has been following developments in the field of sustainability since the 1980s. After eleven years as a cabinet maker, she worked for three years at the architecture firm Jestico + Whiles in London. Back in Germany, she realised further international projects in the field of brand architecture for companies such as BMW, MINI, IBM and as project manager at HUGO BOSS. In 2010, together with Andrea Herold, she founded the company InteriorPark., which promotes sustainable developments on many levels. As an impulse generator, she looks beyond the boundaries of individual isolated topics and is a sought-after expert at lectures, in consultations, workshops and juries. Her studio InteriorPark. specialises in sustainable architecture and design concepts. Since 2022, she has been teaching architecture as a professor with a with a focus on sustainable building at the IU.

Anna Theil co-founded the crowdfunding platform Startnext from 2010 to 2019 and advised and supported many founders and creatives in this context. Her focus was mainly on the topics of social business, sustainability and culture.  In 2019, she co-founded "Studio Für Morgen" https://studiofuermorgen.de and deals with the changes in society and the working world. Anna Theil studied media and communication sciences.

Katja Keienburg has been in charge of the international trade magazine baby&junior since March 2020. It has been distributed in around 30 countries for over 60 years and is published digitally worldwide. A mother of two herself, she has an eye on the needs of today's parents and offers an overview of the baby and children's industry with reports and features on trade fairs, associations, manufacturers, retail and e-commerce. The respective focus topics provide an indispensable basis for decision-making for buyers - so baby&junior is also represented on all channels. The topic of sustainability has played an important role for babies and children since before yesterday, which is why baby&junior also repeatedly focuses on environmentally friendly products, climate-neutral companies and sustainable concepts.

Sebastian Thies, 6th generation footwear professional since 1856, is the Founder x Designer of high-end sneaker brand nat-2™ and CEO of progressive sustainable home and footwear brand thies 1856 ®. Sustainability is key since more than 160 years in the family tradition.

Sebastian is also a Creative Director at various other Projects and has worked with companies such as MCM, Wu-Tang, Sony, Paramount, Activision, Ritter Sport, Atelier PMP, Hasbro, Gabor, HBC, Levi's, Benetton, nowadays, Urban Outfitters, Studio100 ... Sebastian's Designs have been showcased and included to design collections in international re-known exhibitions and museums  such as Grassimuseum Leipzig, Red Dot Museums Essen x Singapore, Kunsthaus Vienna, MKG Hamburg, Shoetopia Detroit, Cube Designmuseum NL, Wilhelm Wagenfeld Stiftung Bremen, VirtualShoemuseum, Deutsches Museum...

Sebastian has already won several international awards such as the Red Dot Design Award, German Brand Award, Innovation x Design Award, IspoBrandnew Award, was nominated twice for Germany's Designpreis and appointed as Fellow and Kultur- x Kreativpilot by the Federal Republic of Germany.

The London Designmuseum has quoted nat-2™ as "one of the 50 shoes that changed the world" in its books.

Katja Reich is head of the editorial team of DBZ Deutsche Bauzeitschrift in Berlin and Gütersloh since 2019. She has over 20 years of experience in the conception and editorial implementation of architecture journals with a focus on corporate publishing, in the planning and implementation of specialist events for architects and in the field of construction products. Bringing design requirements and practical building requirements into harmony is the focus of her work across all communication channels.