New York City, NY, 4th September 2026, ZEX PR WIRE, Karunamaya Vesna Blazhevska has worked within United Nations Sustainable Development communications since 2008. Her work involves helping large, complicated ideas about the environment and international cooperation reach ordinary readers. She has decided to turn some of that thinking into a short, practical challenge that anyone can try, using seven days as the frame.

The idea is simple. Each day points to one Sustainable Development Goal and one small action tied to it. Nothing on the list requires special equipment or money. Blazhevska says she designed it that way on purpose.

“Big goals get people excited for a week and then they quit,” she says. “I wanted something a person could actually keep doing after the challenge ends.”

The seven-day plan

Day 1, climate action. Skip one car or rideshare trip. Walk, bike, or take transit instead.

Day 2, affordable and clean energy. Unplug devices that sit idle overnight. Blazhevska points out that standby power adds up over a year, even if it feels small on any single day.

Day 3, quality education. Spend twenty minutes reading about one environmental topic you do not already understand well. She suggests picking something specific, like ocean plastic or soil health, rather than a broad subject.

Day 4, gender equality. Support or promote the work of a woman colleague or a woman-led project you respect. Blazhevska frames this as a habit of attention, not a one-time gesture.

Day 5, responsible consumption. Try one full meatless day. This is the piece of the challenge closest to her own life. She has been vegetarian since 1991, avoiding meat and fish while still eating cheese, eggs, and yogurt. “I’m not asking anyone to do what I do for thirty-five years,” she says. “I’m asking for one day, to see how it feels.”

Day 6, life below water. Cut back on single-use plastic for the day. Bring a reusable bottle or bag instead of a new one.

Day 7, peace. Have one respectful conversation with someone whose views differ from yours, without trying to change their mind. Blazhevska sees this as connected to her interest in harmony among different faiths and backgrounds. “Peace starts in small exchanges before it shows up anywhere bigger,” she says.

Why she built it around small steps

Blazhevska says her communications work has taught her that people respond to specifics, not slogans. A goal like “protect the climate” is hard to act on directly. Turning off a device or skipping a car trip is not.

She also says the challenge reflects something she has learned from her own long-standing habits. Her vegetarian diet has lasted more than three decades not because she set out to prove something, but because it became ordinary. She hopes the same happens with small climate habits: that they stop feeling like a challenge and become routine.

“None of these seven days ask for something dramatic,” she says. “They ask for something repeatable.”

How to take part

Blazhevska is encouraging people to pick any single day from the list and try it this week, rather than waiting to start all seven at once. She says starting small and staying consistent matters more than doing everything at once.

She also notes the challenge is meant to be shared informally, among coworkers, friends, or community groups, rather than tracked through any formal program. “The point isn’t a certificate,” she says. “The point is that seven habits are easier to keep than one big promise.”

To read the full interview, visit the website here.

About Karunamaya Vesna Blazhevska

Karunamaya Vesna Blazhevska is a Communications Assistant with the United Nations Department of Global Communications, based in New York City. She has worked there since 2008, with a focus on communication tied to sustainable development and international cooperation. She holds a degree in Economics from the Faculty of Economics in Skopje, part of Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in North Macedonia, and grew up in what was then Yugoslavia. She has been a vegetarian since 1991 and has a long-standing interest in spirituality, peace, and harmony among different faiths.

Stellantis technology executive emphasizes practical innovation, integrated engineering and the importance of building technology around real customer needs.

Illinois, CA, 4th September 2026, ZEX PR WIRE, As artificial intelligence, advanced computing and connected technologies become increasingly important to product development, Ned Curic believes the value of innovation should still be measured by a straightforward standard: whether it makes the product better for the person using it.

Curic, who is responsible for Product Development & Technology at Stellantis and is a member of the Stellantis Leadership Team, has spent his career working across engineering, software and automotive technology.

His approach places the customer at the center of technology decisions rather than treating new technology as an objective on its own.

“Technology only matters if it makes life better for people,” Curic has said.

The principle has become increasingly relevant as companies gain access to more powerful artificial intelligence, computing systems and development tools. The challenge is no longer simply whether a technology can be built or incorporated into a product. Companies must determine where it creates meaningful improvements for customers.

Building Technology Around the Product

For the automotive industry, that distinction is especially important.

Modern vehicles bring together mechanical engineering, electronics, computing, software, design, manufacturing and increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence. Customers, however, experience those individual technologies as one product.

Curic has publicly emphasized the importance of viewing the vehicle as a complete system rather than allowing any individual technology to become the product’s defining purpose.

That philosophy also influences how Stellantis approaches product development.

In February 2025, Stellantis integrated its software activities into the Product Development & Technology organization led by Curic. The company said the change was intended to streamline the process of bringing products and services to market across its brands and markets.

The organizational structure brings technologies that increasingly influence the customer experience closer to the broader engineering and product-development process.

Rather than separating software from the rest of vehicle development, the approach reflects the reality that customers ultimately judge how all parts of a vehicle work together.

From Technical Capability to Customer Value

The rapid development of artificial intelligence provides another example of the distinction between technical capability and practical value.

Stellantis has been exploring AI across areas including engineering, manufacturing, vehicle technology and customer interaction.

Curic has consistently framed those efforts around tangible results.

When Stellantis expanded its collaboration with Mistral AI in 2025, Curic said the companies were exploring applications of artificial intelligence that could enhance product development and the customer experience while delivering real benefits.

That focus places a higher standard on innovation than novelty alone.

A new technology may be technically impressive, but its long-term value depends on whether it can improve quality, simplify an experience, accelerate development, increase capability or address another genuine customer or business need.

The same principle applies as AI becomes a larger part of engineering and product-development workflows.

Technology can help teams analyze information, test ideas, improve development processes and create new experiences. The objective, however, remains the product rather than the technology used to create it.

Innovation Requires Integration

Curic’s perspective has been shaped by a career spanning several technology-intensive industries.

He began his career in Engineering Systems at Northrop Grumman in 1996 before joining Microsoft in 2000, where he held positions in consulting, product, security and advisory functions.

He entered the automotive industry in 2013 as Group Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Toyota Motor North America. In 2015, he became a co-founder of Toyota Connected, serving as Executive Vice President, Technical Director and Board Member.

Curic joined Amazon in 2017 as Vice President of Alexa Automotive, spearheading the company’s efforts in the automotive industry.

In August 2021, he joined Stellantis as Chief Technology Officer. His responsibilities later expanded to encompass engineering and research and development before Stellantis brought software activities into the Product Development & Technology organization in 2025.

Across those roles, Curic has worked in environments where multiple technologies, teams and disciplines must contribute to a single product or customer experience.

That experience underpins an approach to innovation based on integration rather than technology in isolation.

A Practical Standard for Emerging Technology

The number of technologies available to product-development organizations will continue to grow.

Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly. Computing capability continues to increase. Development tools are becoming more sophisticated, and vehicles are incorporating increasingly complex electronics and connected functions.

For Curic, those developments do not change the fundamental purpose of technology.

The relevant questions remain practical ones: Does it improve the product? Does it make something easier for the customer? Does it solve a genuine problem? Does it enable an experience that people actually value?

Those questions can also help organizations distinguish lasting innovation from short-term technology trends.

The companies best positioned to benefit from emerging technologies may therefore be those that are most selective about how they use them—integrating technology where it improves the complete product rather than adding capability simply because it is available.

As the automotive industry continues to evolve, Curic’s approach keeps the emphasis on an outcome that is easy to understand even when the technology behind it is increasingly complex: building better products for the people who use them.

About Ned Curic

Ned Curic is responsible for Product Development & Technology at Stellantis and is a member of the Stellantis Leadership Team. He previously served as Vice President of Alexa Automotive at Amazon, Group Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Toyota Motor North America, and held roles in consulting, product, security and advisory functions at Microsoft. He began his career in Engineering Systems at Northrop Grumman.

Curic studied Informatics and Computer Science and received an MBA from Pepperdine University’s George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management in 2012.

For more information, visit NedCuric.com.