Projects & Initiatives

A 10-year compendium, this book combines updates and student stories from 10 years of running the UnSchool of Disruptive Design.

Circular Futures supports government organizations, NFPs and organizations in unlocking circular economy potential and building pathways to activation.

A guidebook for activating sustainability in business. Available in both PDF and paper format here.

An organizational training platform for corporate sustainability developed as a reaction to the many years of advising big companies. Its detailed online training program would later be incorporated into UnSchool and Circular Futures.

A business activation toolkit designed to walk a producer through the stages needed to go from linear to circular, starting with product functionality assessment, then moving into life cycle thinking, sustainable design strategies and finally the full system redesign.

Commissioned by Unily, this trend report looked at the emerging trends of the coming decade right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A three-part process that combines several technical approaches to sustainability, it considers operations, products and experiences in creating a full systems solution.

In collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme, this creative campaign is used worldwide to activate sustainable living and lifestyles.

Commissioned by SEAC, Leyla and her team developed a 12-part learning system that supports building capacity for active local and global citizenship.

Created with support from Oxfam Asia, this kit includes a step-by-step guide to facilitating engaging workshops and designing creative campaigns to activate positive change.

The final handbook in the Make Change series, it’s an in-depth exploration of agency-building tools for activating a life of creative changemaking.

A collaboration for the Finnish Education System to develop engaging and practical in-class resources on the circular economy, sustainability and creativity.

This handbook explores systems thinking and designing systems-wide solutions for complex social and environmental issues. It’s the fourth handbook in the Make Change Series.

In 2017, Leyla took on an ambitious project to restore and regenerate an abandoned farm and olive mill to become a living learning lab and brain spa in Central Portugal. The CO Project ran a variety of outreach and engagement projects such as single and multi-day learning experiences that offered compelling immersive experiences into rural regeneration and sustainable lifestyles, all with a Portuguese flavor. In keeping with the social enterprise model, the last Sunday of every month offered a by-donation community open day, which each year saw over 500 people visit the rural part of Portugal to learn more.

The third handbook in the Make Change series, this book outlines the steps for implementing the Mining, Landscaping, and Building phases of the DDM to effect change.

Created after being awarded UNEP Champion of the Earth, this toolkit offers 12 everyday superpowers we all can develop to help change the world for the better.

An educational and provocative approach to designing systems that make disposability obsolete.

The second handbook in the Make Change series, this book is based on two global human experiences: our shared social construction and the influence of neurochemicals.

An active ideation toolkit, Designercise combines cognitive sciences and design thinking techniques to create high-energy exercises for professional play.

Leyla developed the Disruptive Design Method (DDM) as a framework for creative problem-solving, leveraging systems thinking, sustainability, and design to create positive social and environmental change.

The first handbook in Leyla’s 5-part Make Change handbook series, Make Change: A Handbook for Creative Rebels and Change Agents explores all the different concepts and ways you can engage with creative change making.

Disrupt Design is a creative-change agency has activated, supported and experimented with ways in which design can be used as a catalyst for positive social change.

This experimental knowledge lab helps professionals and emerging leaders upskill to advance their careers in sustainability, social innovation and creative problem solving. Explore the timeline here.

An interactive exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria that explored the hidden environmental impact in the design of electronic goods.

Funded by the City of Melbourne, this 5-day interactive workshop united artists and designers to reimagine damaged landfill-bound items, resulting in a public exhibition and free repair sessions.

An award-winning animation and educational initiative that unpacked the life cycle of everyday things for designers to learn about eco-design and life cycle thinking.

Great for use in schools, universities and design studios around the world, the award-winning Design Play Cards help players explore and frame creative problem solving through the lens of design for sustainability.

Eco Innovators served as a platform for educators, pioneering unique ways of creating educational experiences for activating social and environmental change.

A mini showcase of eco-responsible local products housed in a repurposed newspaper stand in Melbourne’s CBD, this project sparked street trading policy change and is now a crêpe stand!