Learning Strategies in Sustainable Design for students and professionals

1
Learning Strategies in Sustainable Design for
students and professionals Adam de Eyto1)
,Mark Hadfield 2), Maggie Hutchings
3),   1), Institute of Technology Carlow,
Industrial Design faculty,Dept. of Humanities,
Marketing and Design, 2), Bournemouth
University, School of Design, Engineering and
Computing (DEC) 3), Bournemouth University,
Institute of Health and community studies (IHCS).
2
Industrial and product design has always
attempted to merge the practicalities of
engineering and technology with the subtle
elements of interface, social concerns and
aesthetic desire. This is currently achievable in
most products, but without sustainability at its
core neither design, engineering nor technology
have the ability to do much more than continue to
add to the sociological and environmental
difficulties of the 21st century.
3
This research qualitatively assesses
appropriate delivery models for educating
sustainable design thinking for SME (Small
Medium Enterprise) employees and undergraduate
design students. The sample groups include
industrial design undergraduate students at the
Institute of Technology, Carlow and a sample of
SMEs in the south east of Ireland.
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Prior Knowledge Survey

• Environmental legislation, policy and standards

• Environmental tools, technologies and approaches

• General environmental issues

• The rating of the students and business reps.
  importance of sustainable design as an issue to
  themselves, their work and the community as a
  whole.

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Student survey key findings

• The students were aware in the main about topical
  environmental and social issues such as
  recycling, global warming and depletion of
  natural resources. The levels to which they
  could explain these issues in depth may be
  limited.

• The students have an understanding of the issues
  around design and manufacture for sustainability
  however they are not familiar with key words and
  descriptions and find it difficult to
  differentiate between the more subtle elements
  such as cradle to grave rather than
  cradle-to-cradle design.

• A clear majority of students in all the classes
  assessed felt that sustainable design was of
  significant importance to them as individuals,
  the companies they may end up working for and for
  the world as a whole.

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SME survey key findings

• The SMEs in the main have a slightly more
  practical knowledge of the social and
  environmental issues, as one would expect however
  there was limited appreciation for the relevance
  of the issues to their work.

• As with the students they have an appreciation
  for the design for sustainability issues
  generally but are not familiar with the key
  phrases and descriptions used by the experts in
  the field.

• All the companies recognise the need for their
  products to become more sustainable in nature but
  predominantly due to legislative pressures.

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Examples of the delivery models being assessed

• Specific e- learning modules from Bournemouth
  Universities SPD (Sustainable Product Design)
  website.

• Workshop based exercises within the Winnovate
  Initiative

• Studio orientated project based learning modules
  with specific sustainability briefs being
  applied.

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Student E-Learning key findings

• Good Self Learning opportunities for students,
  they can learn at their own pace.

• Allows the students a much greater access to
  information and they have the ability through the
  software to investigate complex permutations of
  design decisions with respect to environmental
  and social effects.

• The technical nature of the software can be
  off-putting and they need to be able to apply
  themselves to get the desired results.

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SME Workshops key findings

• Theory and practical based workshop proved to
  work well as it engaged the SME representatives
  sufficiently to promote good discussion on the
  issues around Sustainable Design.

• Practical dismantling exercise provided a case
  study which companies found tangible and realistic

• Companies have genuine difficulty balancing
  environmental and social considerations with
  economic and practical ones. They often lack the
  expertise and training to implement
  sustainability goals.

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Student Directed Project based learning

• Studio Based learning approach with guidance from
  lecturers

• Students develop their own design brief based on
  a general Sustainability theme

• Students work in a group to mimic the business
  environment

• Gives the students the opportunity for a deeper
  learning outcome.