Award winning designer, historian and design researcher Nitzan Waisberg is the co-creator of Sustainable Abundance, a radically human-centered approach to sustainability. While important technological innovations aid in creating a sustainable future, Nitzan believes equal emphasis needs to be placed on the perceptions, constructs and social worlds that afford sustainable abundance. At the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the d.school) at Stanford, she and Debra Dunn guide multidisciplinary teams as they solve complex ecosystem level sustainability issues through design.

What's your favorite thing about where you live? I live on campus at Stanford in 1950's housing designed around a communal courtyard. Everyone has the same little house and everyone has the same giant yard. It's very liberating.

What would you like to see change in your neighborhood? I'd love longer stretches of sidewalks with shopfronts that make walking rather than taking a car more appealing.

What's the most surprising thing that's currently on your desk? I have a sword bridging the printer and a pile of books!

Which Compostmodern speaker are you most excited to hear from? I'm excited about all of the speakers really, but I'm definitely looking forward to hearing Debera Johnson, Dara O'Rourke and Nathan Waterhouse.

Fill in the blank: Reduce, reuse, recycle, _________. Remember. History is an amazingly rich resource for designers. Understanding the past gives us tools to reframe the present in ways that create real change.