Sustainable design and the design curriculum

Abstract

research activities are centred on sustainable product design, specifically, the socialcultural aspects of sustainable design. She is currently researching the psychology of product attachment and how product life spans can be increased. She has published papers in design education since 1998. ABSTRACTThis paper reports on an initial study that begins the process of considering how design education should deal with the issue of sustainable design specifically in the context of the education of graduate designers in the fields of product, design engineering and interior design. Consideration is given to the development of the design curriculum and the design process. Further, a number of questions related to shaping the future of design and engineering education are also explored. The question this research seeks to address is whether sustainability, or more specifically sustainable design, should or can be an integral part of engineering/product design programmes or whether it should/or can be developed as a separate design discipline, perhaps as a postgraduate extension to the designer's core skills set? The research also discusses the difference between, ecodesign and sustainable design and the implications of the understanding of this difference for design education.

Untitled

“…In a study involving 200 people by Schifferstein et al (2004) examining product attachment, the authors came up with seven key factors that encouraged people to increase their attachment to a particular item (see Figure 12). As paraphrased by Humphries-Smith (2008), these were: "the memories of persons, events and places; the extent to which the product supports the person's identity; the product's utility; the life vision it symbolizes; the enjoyment it activates; its market value and its reliability. " The particular similarities with the present study are the memories associated with a person and the significance of places and events.…”

Fostering Sustainable Mindsets in Engineering Education

“…The last few years have seen the rise of 'sustainable design' as an important albeit still emerging concept in engineering education (Humphries-Smith, 2008). A primary means of discussing sustainability in EE is through design-focused curricula and activities.…”