Natalia Moreira

Holder of a PhD in Sustainability by the University of Manchester (UK), MSc in Eco-efficient products development by the Politecnico di Torino (Italy), and BSc in Textile and Fashion by the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), Natalia is an interdisciplinary researcher and Project Manager with focus on products, sustainable consumption and circular economy.

With a strong technical research and publication record, Natalia has been in the field of product development since 2007, advising global fashion brands and completing research on sustainable textiles for action-oriented change projects, and contributing to vital academic debates on sustainability. Natalia also has an interest in software development and has skills and client relationships in this area, in countries such as Canada, the UK, Italy, Brazil and Germany. Natalia’s research emphasises direct engagement with diverse stakeholder groups involved in product supply chains, which has enabled her to successfully develop new models of sustainability futures and systems thinking in her research.

“I thrive on projects grounded in both technical aspects of industrial engineering and big picture ‘sustainability’ themes; I have an extensive international network of academic and industry practitioners which has enabled me to take a global approach to my career trajectory”.

After three years as a postdoc at Aalto University in Finland, coordinating the European Commission-funded (Horizon 2020) New Cotton Project, Natalia decided to join the teaching team at the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. An avid believer in the importance of education she has been engaged in teaching courses connected to the research-front of the Creative Business programme in courses like ‘Research Design’ and ‘Research-base Prototype’ as well as courses sustainability-oriented courses such as ‘Technology for Good’. Also venturing into new territory like the ‘Effective Communication’ and ‘Challenging Human Bias’ courses.

Strongly committed to research since 2006 Natalia’s research projects, publications and qualifications revolve around the fields of sustainability, textiles and consumer engagement; eventually focusing on  the various aspects of circularity. With various experiences in Brazil and Europe her selection of most important work can be found below:

Circular Fashion in Brazil – 2019 – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Head of Apparel Research for the project “Transition to Circular Economy” – Read more about this project (PDF, in Portuguese)

Sustainable Fun! – 2018 – Manchester, UK – Organiser – Read more about this project 

Wonder Materials – 2017 – Manchester, UK – Game developer for the ‘Material Girls’ team – Read more about this project

Nuffield Research Placement and CONACyT Research School – 2016 – Manchester, UK – Mentor – Read more about this project 

REALab and the Narrative Galleries – 2015 – Manchester, UK – Project member Read more about this project

Pint of Science – 2015 – Manchester, UK – Organiser – Read more about this project

Professional publications

Author: MOREIRA, N.. Title: Transparency and accessibility of information in the fashion industry are not only possible but should be used to raise awareness about the clothes they are wearing (page 94)

Authors: MOREIRA, N.; NIINIMAKI, K.. Title: INTERACTIVE ECOSYSTEM FOR CIRCULAR TEXTILES: The New Cotton Project case

Authors: MOREIRA, N.; NIINIMAKI, K... Title: Circular Ecosystem's Blueprint: launch white paper (pocket version)

Authors: MOREIRA, N.; NIINIMAKI, K.. Title: Circular Business Models in the Textile Industry: the second New Cotton Project white paper

Authors: MOREIRA, N.; NIINIMAKI, K.. Title: Circular Economy and Fashion: a New Cotton Project white paper

Authors: MOREIRA, N.;  ARATO, F.; DOWNEY, K.. Title: ‘Dressing for a change: turning knowledge into interactive action for sustainability’

Scholarly publications

Authors: GOMES, G. M.; MOREIRA, N.; OMETTO, A. (2023): Consumer engagement in circular consumption systems: a roadmap structure for apparel retail companies. In: Circular Economy and Sustainability

Authors: GOMES, G. M.; MOREIRA, N.; OMETTO, A. (2022): ‘Role of consumer mindsets, behaviour, and influencing factors in circular consumption systems: A systematic review’. Authors: In: Sustainable Production and Consumption -Volume 32, July 2022, Pages 1-14 - 10.1016/j.spc.2022.04.005

Authors: MOREIRA, N.; HODSON, E.; NIINIMAKI, K. (2022): ‘Social Sustainability and the Textile Industry: New Directions in Sustainability Research’. In: Latest Trends in Textile and Fashion Designing – Volume 4, Issue 5, March 2022, Pages 827-831 - : 10.32474/LTTFD.2022.04.000199

Authors: GOMES, G. M.; MOREIRA, N.; BOUMAN, T.; OMETTO, A.; van der WERFF, E. (2022): Towards Circular Economy for More Sustainable Apparel Consumption: Testing the Value-Belief-Norm Theory in Brazil and in The Netherlands. In: Sustainability - 14(2), 618, January 2022

Authors: GOMES, G. M.; MOREIRA, N.; IRITANI, D.; AMARAL, W.; OMETTO, A. (2021):‘Systemic Circular Innovation: Barriers, Windows of Opportunity and An Analysis of Brazil’s Apparel Scenario’. In: Fashion Practice, 15:1, 6-35, DOI: 10.1080/17569370.2021.1987645

Authors: SOUZA, S.; Soares, S.; MOREIRA, N.; Severis, R.; de SANTA-EULALIA, L. (2021): Internal Normalization Procedures in the Context of LCA: A Simulation-Based Comparative Analysis. In: Environmental Modeling and Assessment - 26, 271–281

Authors: MOREIRA, N. G.; WOOD-HARPER, T.; AIT-KADI, D.; DE SANTA-EULALIA, L. A.; WANG, Y. (2015): A conceptual framework to develop green textiles in the aeronautic completion industry: a case study in a large manufacturing company. In: Journal of Cleaner Production – v. 105 p. 371-388

Authors: MOREIRA, N. G.; WOOD-HARPER, T. (2015): 'Customer Involvement in the Development of New Sustainable Products: A Review of the Literature’. In: International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering - v. 9 n.8 p. 2875-2881 - doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1110760

Authors: MOREIRA, N. G.; WOOD-HARPER, Trevor; SOUSA, S. (2017): ‘Developing a framework to motivate consumers and other stakeholders into becoming agents of sustainable development’. In: International Journal of Advanced Engineering and Management Research, v. 2 i.4 979-1005 – ISSN: 2456-3676

Authors: MOREIRA, N.; SOUSA, S.; WOOD-HARPER, T. (2017): ‘Fair Trade and Sustainability in the British Textile Industry: An Evolution from Exploitation towards Global ‘Equality’'. In: Journal of Textile Science & Engineering, v.7 n.6 p. 324-332 - 10.4172/2165-8064.1000324

Authors: MOREIRA, N.; DOWNEY, K.; ARATO, F.; WOOD-HARPER, T. (2018): Early age sustainability: turning knowledge into action through educational and interactive activities. In: International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Management Research, v. 5 n.5 p. 15-34

Authors: GOMES, G.; MOREIRA, N.; van der WERFF, E.; OMETTO, A.: The establishment of metrics on circular consumer behaviour: an application in the apparel industry (to be presented at the IS4CE2020 Conference of the International Society for the Circular Economy 6 – 7 July 2020, University of Exeter, Exeter - UK)

Authors: MOREIRA, N.; DE SANTA-EULALIA, L. A.; WOOD-HARPER, T.; SOUSA, S.: Awareness workshops: involving the consumer in the development of new sustainable products using environmental awareness as key for life cycle change (presented at the Life Cycle Assessment Conference, Lille – November 2016)

Authors: MOREIRA, N. G.; AIT-KADI, D.; ROMERO, A.; VIEIRA, D. R.; DE SANTAEULALIA, L. A.; WANG, Y.: Integrating Eco-design and PLM in the Aviation Completion Industry: A Case Study. In: 11th International Conference on Product Lifecycle Management – PLM 2014 (Tokyo, Japan – June, 2014 v. 01 pp. 169-180)

Authors: MOREIRA, N. G.; AIT-KADI, D.; DE SANTA-EULALIA, L. A.: Ecodesign of new products: a methodological comparison. In: 4th International Conference on Information Systems, Logistics and Supply Chain (CREATIVE LOGISTICS FOR AN UNCERTAIN WORLD) - ILS 2012 (Quebec - Canada)

Authors: MOREIRA, N. G.; AIT-KADI, D.; DE SANTA-EULALIA, L. A.: Evolution of green textiles in the aeronautic industry: an exploratory literature review. In: 9th International Conference of Modeling, Optmization and Simulation – MOSIM 2012 (Bordeaux - France)

Authors: MOREIRA, N.; WOOD-HARPER, T.; SOUSA, S.: ‘Social empowerment through work and education: a waste management project within the walls of an Italian prison’ (Global Cleaner Production and Conference (Sitges, Spain - November, 2015)

Authors: MOREIRA, N. And WOOD-HARPER, T.: United Kingdom Academy of Information Systems – UKAIS (University of Oxford, March 2015)

Authors: MOREIRA, N. G. ; ZONATTI, W. ; POZZANI, L. S. ; SOUZA, F. M.: Colour solidity and the formation of pilling in a fashion garment (In Portuguese: Solidez à cor e formação de pilling no produto de moda). In: Second Fashion Conference - 2006 (Salvador – Brazil)

Authors: MOREIRA, N. G. ; ZANARDI, D. ; CALIL, F. ; SOUZA, F. M. ; LIOTINO, K. ; ORTIZ, L. ; POZZANI, L. S. ; SCHNEIDER, M. ; MAYUME, R. ; ZONATTI, W.: The trash of the luxury (In Portuguese: O Lixo do Luxo). In: First National Fashion Conference - 2005 (Ribeirão Preto – Brazil)

Book Chapters

Authors: MOREIRA, N.; HODSON, E.; NIINIMAKI, K. (2024): 'Implementing a Circular Ecosystem from post-consumer textiles: New Cotton Project'. To be released as a chapter of the book Fashion for the Common Good (Springer)

Authors: QASIM, S.; QASIM, F. OSEI, P. (2024): Black faculty in Finland

Authors: MOREIRA, N.; WARD, E. (2019) Technological Impact on Public Engagement in Alternative Educational and Heritage Institutions: Portraying Minorities through Interactive Exhibits. Chapter of the IGI-Global book Fostering Communication and Learning with Underutilized Technologies in Higher Education, September 2020

• Ph.D. (2013-2017), University of Manchester (United Kingdom)

Thesis title: 'Product development: dealing with consumer demand during the development of sustainable textile products'. Major subject: Sustainability. Supervisory team: Dr. Richard Kennon (University of Manchester's Northwest Composites Centre) and Prof. Trevor Wood-Harper (Alliance Manchester Business School). Graduation date: 4th September 2017

• M.Sc. Eco-efficient Product Design (2009- 2012), Politecnico di Torino (Italy)

Dissertation title: 'A literature review and case study of the current situation: ecologic textile products development and use in the aeronautic industry'. Major subject: Eco-design. Supervisory team: Prof. Luigi Bistagnino (Politecnico di Torino), Prof. Luis Antonio de Santa-Eulalia (TELUQ-UQAM) and Prof. Daoud Ait-Kadi (Laval University). Graduation date: 27th February 2012

• B.Sc. Textile and Fashion (2005 - 2008), University of Sao Paulo (Brazil)

Dissertation title: 'Business plan for a beach-wear company'. Major subject: Fashion Management. Supervisory team: Prof. Carlos de Brito Pereira (School of Art, Science and Humanities - USP) and Prof. Moacyr Martucci Junior (Escola Politecnica - USP). Graduation date: 23rd March 2009

Key additional qualifications (full list on LinkedIn)

Sustainability

• Circular Economy - Sustainable Materials Management (Lund University - 2020)
• GRI Sustainability Reports (Global Reporting Initiative and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - 2020)
• Sustainable development: solutions and trend (KTH, Swedish Royal Institute of Technology - 2020)
• Sustainability Strategies, Design Thinking and the seven deadly Wastes (LinkedIn Learning - 2020)

Research and Teaching

• Alliance Manchester Business School Research Training Programme (University of Manchester – 2013/14)
• Engineering and Physics School Research Training Workshops (University of Manchester – 2013/17)
• Gamification of Learning and Core Strategies for Teaching in Higher Ed (LinkedIn Learning - 2020)

Management

• Project Management foundations, metrics and agility (LinkedIn Learning – 2018/20)
• Product Management (The Developers Conference training track - 2019)
• Operational Project Management (Getulio Vargas Foundation – FGV - 2019)
• Values for the purpose of the company (Polytechnic School of Turin - 2009)
• Workshop on innovation (Università degli studi di Parma - 2010)
• Team building Workshop (JADE - Junior Enterprises, Headquarters - 2010)
• Business Plan Management (University of Sao Paulo - 2008)
• Training Course for Managers of Innovation in Industry (University of Sao Paulo Innovation Agency - 2009)
• Products development process (School of Managerial Engineering - University of Sao Paulo - 2009)
• Quality Planning and Management (School of Managerial Engineering - Federal University of Sao Carlos - 2009)

Others

• University specialisation in Visual arts in the theatre (University of Sao Paulo - 2006)
• Human-centric design applied on inmate-run projects inside a prison (Casa circondariale Lorusso e Cutugno, Politecnico di Torino - 2010)
• How to build digital products (The Product School online course - 2020)
• Programming Foundations: Design Patterns (LinkedIn Learning - 2020)