Mission Statement
Equity and social justice – with a planetary perspective that addresses fairly living together on this planet. Design has the role here to bring all stakeholders’ perspectives in this transition.
Biography
I am a consultant, researcher and professor using Design to help organizations thrive in the multiple transitions (ecological, social, digital…) that our economies are to face.
With a foundation of Industrial Design, I soon started to work in International Cooperation for Development (with Spanish Cooperation in Colombia) from a perspective of Strategic Communication. This led me later to two kinds of work: one, Social Design and participation in a local project in Valencia called “Design What’s To Come”; and two, R&D focused on tech for Circular Economy, Clean Energies and Health. These were the seeds for my later consultancy activity through Monnou.
Co-founding and managing Monnou has led me to work with different organizations at different levels – from startups to technological centers to public administrations, from product and brand strategies to projects of territorial scale.
As a consultant, I needed to research and develop design methodologies, which eventually led me to Academia – and to manage CDTM in Valencia. At University, I now research and lecture on design methodologies and practices that lead just and sustainable transitions. It is at this intersection of Academia, industry and policy that I regard my work now.
Questionnaire
Where do you want to foster change and why?
Every living being – not only humans – must be able to thrive and live peacefully on this planet. How can Design foster that? By bringing a planetary perspective into wellbeing and value creation.
What or who influenced you during your professional career?
Many have influenced my approach, but I’ll give a special mention to K.Raworth and her Doughnut Economics framework for designing a new model that addresses both social needs and planetary boundaries.
We all have those significant moments or situations (success or failure); which one was yours, and what did you learn from it?
From the beginning of my career, I kept choosing unconventional paths. Staying generalist instead of specializing; staying focused on environmental and social impact instead of delivering value solely for the market. While this journey has been mostly difficult to hold and explain, following my values and exploring divergent paths has kept producing important milestones in my career.