Curious Conversations


A Dialogue Series with William McDonough & Friends of the Institute. Join us to discuss important topics, like data centers, clean energy, product design, built environment and more. A vibrant forum connecting professionals across disciplines in a regenerative dialogue.

Your Role in the Regenerative Future Starts Here

  • Professional Groups

    These are more than discussions. They are co-creative roundtables including William McDonough, supported by skilled facilitators, and joined by experts shaping the future of their fields.

    GROUPS →

  • Office Hours

    Monthly intimate sessions for early-career professionals and students to engage directly with William McDonough.

    OFFICE HOURS →

  • On-Demand Resources

    Educational resources, frameworks, and tools including the Net-Positive Chart and Five Goods™ Checklists.

    RESOURCES →

Professional Groups

A Collaborative Commons for Regenerative Leaders

These are more than discussions. They are co-creative roundtables, including William McDonough, supported by skilled facilitators, and joined by experts shaping the future of their fields.

Focus Areas

Built Environment Designers
Architects and designers creating places that function like ecosystems—producing energy, purifying water, supporting well-being.

Product Designers
Designing with purpose, they embed circularity, transparency, and usability into everyday products, shaping tools that serve people and the planet.

Materials Scientists
Professionals transforming materials from risks into assets, creating safe, circular flows for biological and technical nutrients.

Energy & Climate Specialists
Engineers and innovators exploring how energy infrastructure can become a regenerative force in built and natural worlds.

Circular Economy Leaders
Supply chain and systems strategy experts unpacking true circularity—redesigning systems that eliminate waste.

Corporate Sustainability
ESG executives and change agents exploring how to lead with principle, transparency, and systemic thinking.

  • Direct Engagement with William McDonough

    These aren’t lectures—they’re living conversations. Bill joins sessions to offer perspective, ask deeper questions, and share insights drawn from 50 years of pioneering design work, across scales from molecules to metropolises.

  • Expert Facilitation & Structured Design

    Each session is hosted and guided by a facilitator to create space for high-quality exchange, idea development, and reflective practice.

  • Role-Aligned, Industry-Relevant Focus

    Groups are curated by profession or domain, ensuring that conversations reflect the specific language, challenges, and design questions most relevant to the participants.

  • Guest Contributions

    Select sessions include guests whose leadership and work offer inspiration, challenge, or new tools. These moments spark creative collisions and ground the discussion in current innovations and systems in motion.

How It Works

Peer Dialogue Sessions
Focused sessions designed to foster collaborative inquiry, explore current trends and tensions, and spotlight active projects across various fields. Participants are encouraged to engage in reflective conversation and shared learning.

Curated Tools & Living Resources

Participants gain access to a collection of editable frameworks, case studies, and templates—such as the Net-Positive Chart, Five Goods™ Checklists, and Circular Carbon Economy Maps—to support ongoing practice and exploration.

Innovation Labs with Contributors
An opportunity to explore bold, early-stage ideas in a generative space. Participants can offer and receive feedback, pose questions, and consider new directions in the company of peers and contributing voices.

Small Group Learning Environment
Designed with intentionality to support depth over scale. Groups are formed to cultivate trust, continuity, and co-mentorship among participants.

Ask William Anything

Office Hours

Monthly office hours offer an intimate forum for early-career professionals and students to engage directly with William McDonough.

Become a monthly donor and receive early invitations and priority access.

On-Demand Resources

Learning in the Flow

To complement the live series, each episode is accompanied by structured educational content, designed to support asynchronous learning and professional development. Educational content includes:

  • Downloadable notes and transcripts

  • Visual diagrams (Net-Positive Chart, Cradle to Cradle Framework)

  • Quizzes and reflection prompts

Great for team onboarding or sustainability literacy campaigns in business, design firms, or public sector groups.