About the Author
Dr Emma Fromberg is a designer, researcher and educator
working across circular economy, sustainable business and design.
Inspired by living systems and grounded in academic research,
she created Nature’s Playbook as a practical learning and innovation tool for organisations.
The Story
Dr Emma Fromberg’s work on the circular economy began as the concept gained wider attention in business, policy and design. As the idea became more mainstream, she grew increasingly interested in a deeper question: whether circular economy thinking genuinely challenges the logic of the linear economy, or whether it risks reproducing it in new forms.
This question shaped her teaching and research across several institutions, including the University of Cambridge, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Delft University of Technology. During her doctoral research, she focused on the metaphors used to imagine a circular economy. Through this work, she explored how ecological metaphors can support more systemic and regenerative approaches to business, and she tested these ideas extensively with mid-to-senior professionals in large organisations.
Nature’s Playbook emerged from this research and was further developed through her work at King’s College London, within the Centre for Sustainable Business at King’s Business School.
Ecological Design Thinking for a Circular Economy
Her work is grounded in the belief that the ideas we develop for the future economy are shaped by perspective: by what we value, but also by what we overlook. Her approach invites professionals to reflect critically on the metaphors they use to think about organisations, value and change, and to explore how these metaphors shape what becomes visible or possible in practice.
Working with metaphors from ecology and living systems is not about stepping away from business realities. It is a scientifically grounded way of engaging with complexity, interdependence and nonlinearity. Emma’s work is designed specifically for real organisational contexts, supporting business professionals in developing strategies that are imaginative, rigorous and bold.
