Duke Design Climate

Design Climate at Duke is an innovative two-semester program combining Design Thinking and sustainability to forge Triple Bottom Line startups tackling complex climate challenges. Through a hands-on approach, students from various disciplines collaborate with industry partners or researchers to craft viable solutions for real-world environmental issues. The program is split into two phases: Discover and Develop. In the Discover phase, students engage with Design Thinking's initial stages—empathising with customers, defining opportunities, and ideating solutions, culminating in a startup pitch. The Develop phase sees these concepts refined into actionable business models, with prototyping and market testing leading to a final pitch to investors. This journey not only hones skills in entrepreneurship, project management, and sustainable product development but also deepens understanding of climate fundamentals, preparing students to be change-makers in the environmental sector.