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Description

Eco-Design: Assessing Impacts, Rethinking the Product and Making Trade-Offs

Embedding environmental considerations from the design stage to reduce impacts without compromising intended use

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

Environmental requirements usually surface at the end of a project, as client demands or as commercial claims that must be substantiated. By that point the room for manoeuvre is limited: materials, assembly and end-of-life treatment have already been locked in by decisions taken much earlier.

Two days to embed eco-design into the development process: thinking across the full life cycle, pinpointing the stages where impacts concentrate, exploring design levers and making trade-offs without simply shifting the problem elsewhere. Participants apply the approach to a product or a packaging item from their own organisation.

Learning objectives

  • Position environmental impacts across the full life cycle
  • Identify the stages where a product's impacts concentrate
  • Select the design levers suited to the product under review
  • Detect impact transfers between stages or between criteria
  • Formalise environmental requirements in the product specification
  • Assemble the evidence required for substantiated communication

What makes this programme different

The approach is applied to a real product brought by participants
Trade-offs are worked through using contrasting design scenarios
The specification for the product under review includes environmental requirements by the end of the session

Programme

1Life Cycle and Impacts

Seeing the product from raw material to end of life

  • Describe the stages of a product life cycle
  • Distinguish the main families of environmental impacts
  • Identify the data required and its sources
  • Understand the notion of impact transfer

2Assessing Before Designing

Targeting the points that genuinely matter

  • Choose a relevant functional unit
  • Use a simplified assessment at the early design stage
  • Read results without over-interpreting them
  • Identify the stages to address first

3Design Levers

Acting on materials, use and end of life

  • Reduce and substitute materials
  • Extend service life and facilitate repair
  • Design for disassembly and material recovery
  • Act on transport and packaging

4Embedding and Substantiating

Anchoring the approach in the project process

  • Write requirements into the product specification
  • Involve procurement and suppliers
  • Prepare supporting evidence
  • Rule out claims that cannot be verified

Who is it for

Designers · design office engineers · product managers · quality managers and procurement professionals involved in developing an offer.

Prerequisites

Involvement in the design or evolution of a product or packaging item.

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.