Paola Zanchetta

Paola Zanchetta is an industrial designer and innovation consultant specializing in circular and waste materials in the context of open-source hardware.

Paola has worked on various projects that promote sustainability and environmental awareness. For example, she collaborated with Estudio Disolvente in Madrid and the Precious Plastic Initiative in Gran Canaria to develop "Tamaragua," a toy that encourages individuals to clean up microplastics from the beach while playing with sand.

Recently, Paola participated in a design residency program at BrenchiesLab, which is part of the Metabolic Foundation in Aruba. During this program, she researched techniques to recycle PET waste into valuable new products and materials. At the mid-term of the residency, she participated in the "Fab Island Challenge," where she collaborated with local and global innovation communities to propose interventions that would enrich, empower, and scale Bali's emerging regenerative economy.

Currently, Paola collaborates with Circu Leren and Fiction Factory in Amsterdam on the development of open-source projects such as Inter Matter, a collaborative sustainable materials library based on life cycle assessment, and Found Objects, a collaborative tool to dynamically create objects from left-over sheet material in CNC production. Additionally, she works at IdeasForChange in the development of open and collaborative business models.