Leyla is the founder of: UnSchools, Disrupt Design, Swivel Skills, CO Project Farm & Circular Futures.
Dr. Leyla Acaroglu challenges people to think differently about how the world works.
An award-winning designer, sustainability provocateur, social scientist and entrepreneur, Leyla Acaroglu (PhD) developed the Disruptive Design Method and creates educational experiences, toolkits, and social enterprises that help design a sustainable, circular and regenerative future.
She's a mainstage TED speaker, LinkedIn Changemaker and was named UNEP Champion of the Earth in 2016 for her work in advancing science and innovation for sustainability. Leyla leads presentations around the world on activating positive social and environmental change through systems interventions. As an entrepreneur, she founded the UnSchool, Disrupt Design, the CO Project Farm, Circular Futures, and Swivel Skills. In addition to her entrepreneurial initiatives, Leyla holds the honorary role of Chief Circular Designer for Circular Australia.
Leyla is a sought-after facilitator and keynote speaker known for highly engaging, interactive, inspirational and humorous talks on activating positive change by design.
Join an In-Person Program with Leyla in 2024
JOIN LEYLA ACAROGLU FOR THIS IN-DEPTH TRAINING PROGRAM ON CIRCULAR LEADERSHIP AND FACILITATION
Do you want to establish yourself as a leader with dedicated facilitation skills in technical sustainability and applied circularity? Join the first cohort of our new, unique, high-level training program designed specifically for professionals wanting to advance their capacity to lead transformational change for a positive future.
With over a decade of experience in facilitating impact-driven change through programs worldwide with NGOs, Fortune 500 companies, academic institutes and start-ups, we have a wealth of experience to share with a small cohort through a specially curated 12-month program.
Expect rigorous training with the leading expert in the field, Dr. Leyla Acaroglu, as your main guide through a journey of capacity expansion and professional development skills.
The program is run over a 12-month period with 2 x 2-hour sessions per month of direct instruction. You get access to exclusive online content and will join a dedicated community of impressive peers to build a strong and connected network. Apply now >
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ACHIEVEMENTS & CONTRIBUTIONS
Over the last two decades, Leyla has developed a range of projects and incentives to help activate positive social and environmental change, by design. Her work as been awarded several notable acknowledgements, including being named 2016 Champion of the Earth by the UN Environment Program. She has developed a range of award-winning creative projects and founded Disrupt Design, The UnSchool of Disruptive Design and the CO Project Living Learning Lab in Portugal. As a social entrepreneur, she is dedicated to finding unique and creative ways of making change through education, industry and activation projects.
UNEP CHAMPION OF THE EARTH AWARD
In 2016, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) named Leyla Acaroglu Champion of the Earth for her pioneering work in science and innovation for sustainability and social change.
THE UNSCHOOL OF DISRUPTIVE DESIGN
In her constant quest to explore how to activate creative change-makers, equipped with the tools to design for a positive planet, Leyla founded the award-winning UnSchool of Disruptive Design in 2014. The UnSchool is an experimental learning lab for purpose-driven creative rebels and change-makers; it runs programs around the world teaching the Disruptive Design Method.
THE DISRUPTIVE DESIGN METHOD
After years of exploring creative change-making, Leyla developed the Disruptive Design Method for activating positive social and environmental change. It combines systems thinking, sustainability sciences and design thinking for positive impacts on the planet.
AWARD-WINNING CREATIVE PROJECTS
Leyla has designed many award-winning activation toolkits for helping others make a positive impact on the planet. She has written several handbooks and creative provocations through her unique approach to cognitive experience design.
THE ANATOMY OF ACTION
Created by Leyla and her team, The Anatomy of Action is a free sustainable living toolkit born out of a partnership project between the United Nations Environment Program and The UnSchool of Disruptive Design to define and communicate the most positively impactful actions any one of us can take to add to the global movement around sustainable lifestyles and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
THE CIRCULAR CLASSROOM
The Circular Classroom is a free, trilingual (English, Finnish + Swedish) educational resource for students and teachers alike. It is designed to integrate circular thinking into high school classrooms, all packaged up in a fun, beautiful, mixed media format. The Circular Classroom Curriculum offers tools to learn how to redesign products and services so that they are more sustainable, equitable, and effective at meeting our human needs without creating negative consequences for the planet.