Simona Rocchi

Philips Design (Netherlands)

Simona Rocchi is Senior Director of Innovation and Design-for-Sustainability Studies at Philips Design. She manages the global creative direction of various sustainability-based initiatives in product/system innovation and strategic design. She also oversees the development of design services targeting emerging and developing markets and she consults the Philips Foundation on the topic of social innovation and collaborative design.

After joining Philips Design in 1999, Simona established and led the Sustainability Design research program and the Design for Empowerment initiative, collaborating with NGOs, research centers and grass-route organisations around the world. Results of her activities have been widely recognised via publications, conference speeches and prestigious design awards. She is frequently invited to lecture at design and business schools around the world, and is a visiting professor in eco-innovation at the Externado University of Bogota, Colombia. Simona holds a PhD in Cleaner Production, Cleaner Products and Sustainability, a Master’s degree in Architecture from the Politecnico di Milano and an MSc in Environmental Management and Policy from Lund University, Sweden.