Engaging students with the sustainability agenda

1
Engaging students with the sustainability agenda

• Harriet Sjerps-Jones

Somerset College
2
Sustainable Development is "development that
meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs." Brundtland report Our
common future 1987
3

• What influences students engagement?

Turn-offs Insecurity about discussing these
matters in new social environment Not knowing the
facts Not knowing what one can do as an
individual Naggers
4

• What influences students engagement?

Turn-ons Naggers! Lecturers Parents Friends
Inspirational icons (roll models)
5

• What do students experience and what do they
  want from the Colleges concerning sustainability?

6
Are we getting the message across?

• Students comments
• Colleges havent made it visible enough what
  they are doing already.
• Students dont have a clear idea of what
  sustainability means.

7

• Proposed action

The promotion of sustainability should be made
visible in the buildings, campus, through
recycling, energy saving etc. Students want
confirmation of colleges commitment.
8
Is the curriculum engaging students?

• The modern curriculum teaches little about
  citizenship and a great deal about individualism
  and rights. The ecological emergency, however,
  can be resolved only if enough people come to a
  bigger idea of what it means to be a citizen.
• (Orr, 2004)

9

• Students comments
• Not enough assignments with clear sustainability
  focus (varies at different colleges from non to
  some)
• Information on sustainability linked to the
  taught subject is difficult to find
• No room for social discussions within the
  subject area
• No confirmation from lecturers that
  sustainability is linked to success

10

• What the students want
• Clear assignments around sustainability subjects
• Information on sustainability should be made
  easy to obtain
• Stimulation of discussion through watching
  films, additional lectures, field trips, posters
  with facts
• Students want confirmation from lecturers that
  sustainability and success go hand in hand.

11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
Trial website

• Key ingredients
• Interactive
• Easy navigation
• Easy access to information
• Opportunity to publish work
• Social networking
• Collaboration
• Sharing knowledge
• http//csf.plymouth.ac.uk/greenhouse/

15
Pilot project

• Trying out an assignment
• Ba (hons) Advertising students at SCAT
  participated with a pilot assignment
• Task
• To design a campaign to raise awareness about
  the over-use of food packaging
• Aim
• To find out whether students would change their
  perceptive of their own role as a designer in
  contributing to a sustainable future

16

• Method
• Co-operative inquiry, including an field trip
  and an exit questionnaire
• Outcomes
• Do you think this project has helped you to
  understand sustainable design better?
• 100 yes
• Do you think it is important for you as a
  designer to consider the effects that your
  designs could have on the environment?
• 87 yes, 13 dont know
• Do you think it is good for your career to have
  an awareness of Sustainable Design?
• 87 yes, 13 dont know

17

• At our first meeting Ive asked you how much you
  think you can influence public opinion as a
  professional designer. Has this project changed
  your opinion? Do you think youll be able to
  influence the public more, the same or less?
• 75 more, 12.5 no difference
• 12.5 dont know
• Has this project in general been a useful
  contribution to your learning as a design
  student?
• 100 yes

18

• Comments
• Its good to try and think about the
  environment when designing. We as advertisers are
  the voice so that people can clearly understand
  and learn things that were not clear to them
  before. A good thing to take into account in the
  future

19

• I enjoyed the assignment and am now far more
  aware of over-packaging than I was before. I
  think its important to make other people start
  thinking about over-packaging too
• I think advertising, used cleverly and witty,
  can make a huge difference towards all these
  environmental issues. People are aware of the
  problem but need a push into doing something
  about it, and heres were we can influence them
  as graphic designers

20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
(No Transcript)
23
Recommendations

• Policy
• - Define a meaning of sustainable development
  (SD) and communicate it clearly with all players
• - Include view on SD in policy strategy
• - Demonstrate that policy is put into practice
• - Make information about sustainability sticky

24

• Social Environment
• - Ensure more lecturers are on board
• - Employ inspirational student ambassadors
• - Utilise student ways of communication
• - Give engaged students a voice

25

• Curriculum
• - Give lecturers an incentive to include
  sustainability in their teaching
• - Encourage cross-curriculum collaboration
• - Offer sustainability focussed extra-curricular
  activities
• - Make use of internet technology to communicate
  and collaborate with students
• Make it easy for students to find and access
  relevant information

26
(No Transcript)