Date
09 November 2026
Talking about ecodesign means exploring how industry is transforming the way it develops products. José María Fernández Alcalá, Director of Circular Economy at Ihobe and Head of the Basque Ecodesign Center, has first-hand knowledge of this shift: his career connects design with the environmental challenges and business decisions companies face.
As a lecturer on the Master’s Degree in Product Design and Ecodesign at IED Kunsthal Bilbao, he brings this experience into the classroom, helping to train professionals who can combine creativity, technical knowledge and environmental considerations. We spoke to him about what industry needs and the career opportunities this specialisation offers.
When we talk about product design, many people think about an object’s appearance. What decisions does a designer’s work actually involve, from the initial idea through to the product reaching the market?
Design starts with a question: what need do we want to address, and what value will we bring? This leads to decisions about the product’s functions, materials, manufacturing, ease of use and maintenance. Good design also looks beyond the moment a product reaches the market. It must anticipate what happens next: how much energy it will consume, how long it will last, whether it can be repaired and what will happen to its materials when it is no longer used. This means considering its entire life cycle. If these questions are left until the end, many opportunities for improvement will already have been lost.
That is why I place so much emphasis on the responsibility that comes with this profession. It is often said that around 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined by design decisions. Beyond the figure itself, the message is clear: designing is not just about shaping an object, but about determining much of its relationship with the environment. And that ability to anticipate offers an enormous opportunity to do things better.
In a company that already has engineering and production teams, how does a product designer fit in? What can they achieve together that would be difficult to accomplish separately?
The designer brings an overall perspective and helps the different departments work towards a shared product concept. Engineering may focus on making a solution work; production on manufacturing it viably; and sales or customer service on what the market needs. Design does not replace any of these perspectives: it connects them and translates them into coherent decisions.
As Head of the Basque Ecodesign Center, you have worked to connect ecodesign with industry. Can you share a specific example in which redesigning a product reduced its environmental impact and improved business performance?
An interesting example is CAF and the integration of ecodesign into its railway engineering processes. For its Civity train family, the strategy involves considering the entire life cycle from the outset: not only how to manufacture the train, but also the energy it will consume, the maintenance it will require and the recovery of its materials at the end of its service life. This translates into very specific decisions: improving aerodynamics, reducing weight, using efficient electrodynamic braking and incorporating driver assistance and energy management systems. The key is to make environmental considerations part of product development, rather than a correction at the end of the project.
The improvements encompass the train’s operation, maintenance and end of life. The standardised modular solutions used support component reliability and durability, reducing maintenance costs and material consumption. In addition, material selection and ease of disassembly enable a recyclability rate of close to 94%, supported by a verified Environmental Product Declaration.
And this is not an isolated case. Ihobe’s Zirkularrak initiative showcases more than 150 commercial products and services from the Basque Country that apply ecodesign and circular economy principles.
From your experience at Ihobe, how has the conversation with companies changed? What concerned them when you started, and what are they asking for now?
When we began working in ecodesign in the late 1990s, the conversation was closely tied to legal compliance. Companies wanted to know how to respond to increasingly significant environmental requirements, particularly in areas such as energy efficiency and managing products at the end of their useful lives. The starting question was often: “What do we have to do to comply?”
Over time, that question has broadened: “How can we turn this into a competitive advantage?” For me, this is the most important shift: moving from seeing the environment as a requirement to be addressed to integrating it into product and business strategy.
Europe is introducing rules to make products last longer, be repairable and easier to recycle. How prepared is industry for this change?
I would not give a single answer for industry as a whole: assessing readiness requires looking at each company and each product. What is clear is the direction of change. The European ecodesign framework broadens the focus to more durable, repairable and circular products, with requirements being developed progressively for different product groups. Rather than waiting for a specific obligation to take effect, companies should start reviewing which design decisions will need to change and what capabilities they need.
For someone with a background in design or engineering, what knowledge and tools does specialising in ecodesign provide that can make a difference to their work?
The first step is learning to look at a product in terms of its environmental impacts. You need to understand what happens when raw materials are sourced and the product is manufactured, transported, used and managed at the end of its life. Measurement helps identify where to act and verify whether an improvement really is an improvement.
The next step is translating that assessment into design decisions. This involves knowledge of materials and strategies to reduce consumption, extend useful life, facilitate repairs and recover components and materials. All of this must be considered before manufacturing begins.
Ultimately, specialisation develops the judgement needed to make informed choices. I would tell companies and students that what matters is not mastering a single piece of software, but knowing how to ask the right questions, interpret the results and translate them into a better product.
In your classes on the Master’s Degree in Product Design and Ecodesign at IED Kunsthal Bilbao, what idea do you particularly want students to take away and keep in mind when they start working?
I would like them to take away two ideas. The first is that their decisions matter much more than they sometimes imagine. Choosing a material, specifying how parts are joined or allowing a component to be replaced are not minor details: they are decisions that shape what will happen for years to come. I want students to be aware of that responsibility, but also of their ability to transform things. Design can prevent problems that later become very difficult to correct.
The second is that no product exists outside its context. There are three groups they need to understand well: companies, with their business models and viability requirements; governments and public authorities, which set the rules; and consumers, with their needs, expectations and ways of using products. An ecodesign solution must engage with all three.
In which sectors and types of companies can a professional specialising in product design and ecodesign work? Are there career paths that people choosing a master’s degree tend to overlook?
The most obvious route is into the design and development teams of industrial companies with their own products. And this is not limited to a single sector: ecodesign can be applied to machinery, furniture, automotive products, electrical and electronic equipment, consumer goods and construction materials.
Other paths may be less visible when choosing a master’s degree: design studios and consultancies working for different companies, engineering firms and environmental consultancies, or professional organisations supporting a particular sector. There are also organisations involved in repair, recovery and waste management.
For anyone considering this specialisation, I would recommend developing a profile that combines creativity, technical knowledge and the ability to assess environmental impacts. It is a way to bring distinctive value to product development, consultancy and the development of circular services. Rather than preparing for a single job title, it is about learning to address a challenge that cuts across sectors: how to meet needs while making better use of resources and reducing environmental impacts.
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