Cradle to Cradle developer Michael Braungart is ending his career as professor of eco-design at Leuphana University of Applied Sciences in Lüneburg after more than 30 years. He will remain there as a visiting professor and will continue to supervise doctoral students working on Cradle to Cradle.
At his farewell lecture in early February, he shared an important piece of wisdom with his students: “For decades, no one appreciated what I was doing. Now I can collect every award except perhaps the Nobel Prize. So don’t try to be proud, don’t wish for appreciation. Do what you think is right. Only then will you be innovative.”
POSITIVE FOOTPRINT
Michael Braungart is the head of the Cradle to Cradle design concept, which enables people to create a world full of healthy products. The concept of “waste” does not exist in this context; there are only nutrients for technical and biological cycles. C2C is a design concept that focuses on health and positive design, and is now being applied successfully in business. After decades of persuasion and perseverance, the principles of this concept are finally being reflected in laws such as the EU’s Green Deal and in corporate philosophies.
Foto: Jasper Großmann
The lineup of speakers in Lüneburg that day is proof that entrepreneurs see the concept as an economic model. Michael Braungart acknowledges this — and at the same time demands more: Addressing Jörg Witthöft, senior manager at automotive supplier ZF Group, he says that ZF is currently laying off many people instead of utilizing their brainpower to turn a car back into a car. The ZF representative might have found this criticism a little hard to swallow, because only a short time before, he was able to proudly report how the company has designed and reworked truck clutches so cleverly that 98 percent of them can be reused without melting them down.
Braungart himself is aware of his “loose tongue” and that he sometimes offends people. For Richard Arnold, mayor of Braungart’s hometown of Schwäbisch-Gmünd, this is not necessarily a bad trait. He said to Braungart: “You are radical without being dogmatic, provocative without being hurtful, visionary without losing touch with reality. “
PEOPLE WHO ARE USEFUL
Listening to his speech and the contributions of his companions, one gets the impression that Michael Braungart is never satisfied, that things are never moving fast enough for him. One might think that in his decades-long effort to convince business, politics, and society of Cradle to Cradle, he might have sometimes despaired and wanted to give up. If that was the case, there is no sign of it in his farewell speech at Leuphana. The explanation for this could lie in the concept itself: “C2C is fundamentally different because we accept a view of humanity that is useful and not just less harmful.” And further: “I want us to have a big footprint, but one that becomes a wetland. Not a small one. I want to be good through my existence, not just through active action.”
SOLUTIONS INSTEAD OF PROBLEMS
With his departure from Leuphana, Michael Braungart is passing on the important task of finding further solutions for healthy, C2C-compatible products to the next generation. Several young students presented their research projects. They are working on a variety of solutions — for example, for health-friendly tire abrasion, for a biodegradable elastane substitute, for recyclable ship cabins, and for harmless plastic. According to Braungart, the mere focus on finally wanting to do things well and not just better is a paradigm shift. “As long as we have problems, we get money, which is why we think in terms of problems,” he criticizes – and praises the students for their solution-oriented questions. He asks his guests indignantly: “We know we can do things that are healthy and positive, so why don’t we do them?” It is now up to the young scientists to continue on this path – but thanks to the visiting professorship at Leuphana, they will still have the “challenging support” of the thought leader, as one of the students put it.
Words from the speakers and companions
Foto: Jasper Großmann
“Thank you, Michael, for creating the cradle-to-cradle concept. Otherwise, we would all — myself included — still be trying to make things just a little less bad.”
Paul Musenbrock, former research assistant in the “C2C Model Region Northeast Lower Saxony” project; PhD Leuphana University Lüneburg
“Let’s make the world a better place by learning from each other and inspiring people around us.”
Ritu Sharma, PhD Leuphana University Lüneburg
“After carpeting, tire abrasion is the topic Michael talks about most.”
Erik Hansen, professor at Johannes Kepler University (JKU) Linz
“Thank you for the insight that one has to change something before one can improve it.”
Jörg Witthöft, senior manager at automotive supplier ZF Group
“Michael Braungart is thought provoking. He gives food for thought, which is why he is innovative and important.”
Stefan Schaltegger, professor at Leuphana University
“Michael, you were an influencer before the term even existed. You are the master of productive irritation.”
Harald Heinrichs, dean of the Faculty of Sustainability at Leuphana University Lüneburg
“Michael Braungart has influenced the struggle to understand sustainability in science and society. He always sought real-world references (…) This practical orientation has remained a defining feature at Leuphana. (…) Communication has always been an integral part of his understanding of science. The debates were not always comfortable for us as a university, but they were an expression of our scientific discourse.”
Jelena Bäumler, Vice President of Leuphana University Lüneburg
Further links:
Monika Griefahn GmbH
Leave a Reply