He has previously served as the Inaugural Chair of the World Economic Forum’s MetaCouncil on the Circular Economy and currently serves on the Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of Environment and Natural Resource Security. He also co-founded two not-for-profit organizations to allow public accessibility to Cradle to Cradle thinking: GreenBlue and the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. He remains active with his architectural practice William McDonough + Partners, as well as MBDC, the Cradle to Cradle consulting firm. McDonough brings his vision of a sustainable future characterised by abundance to commercial and government leaders worldwide through his consultancy McDonough Innovation. Through biomimicry, McDonough believes we can design products as services and emulate closed loop material cycles, so that materials, buildings, companies and communities continuously improve over time. Originally trained as an architect, McDonough firmly believes that design signals human intentions and is thus crucial to shaping a sustainable and inclusive future. His books Cradle to Cradle: Rethinking the Way we Make Things, co-authored with chemist Michael Braungart and followed up in 2013 by The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability – Designing for Abundance, are seminal texts in the circular economy movement. William McDonough is a globally recognised leader in sustainable development.

Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough