CONNECTED 2010 – 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DESIGN EDUCATION 28 JUNE - 1 JULY 2010, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA Green is not the only colour that matters: Teaching sustainable design and research trajectories Miles Park University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia KEYWORDS: SUSTAINABLE DESIGN, ECO-LITERACY, INDUSTRIAL DESIGN ABSTRACT As awareness about environmental and social problems gain traction in government, industry and with consumers, many design education programs now incorporate, to varying degrees, aspects of sustainability within their curriculum. Some have made it a central and defining feature, such as the Product Design Sustainable Futures program at the University of Creative Arts, UK. Others have chosen to offer individual ‘stand-alone’ or elective courses within their programs, while the remainder may just offer a casual relationship with sustainability. As the debate and knowledge around sustainability matures, many design education programs still grapple on how to meaningfully engage with sustainability. Some will meet resistance or indifference from particular staff that may discount its importance or misunderstand its potential transformative role in shaping new design practices. While others will enthusiastically embrace notions of sustainable design, but often engage with it in a simplistic manner, such as following prescriptive messages around recycling and the recycled. In order to create a coherent and relevant design curriculum a number of questions need to be considered, including; should sustainable design be explicit or embedded within the curriculum, where should it fit into an already crowded curriculum, how to move beyond a recycling fixation, how to build teaching capacity, and identify research opportunities? What are the barriers and solutions faced by advocates for sustainable design education? This paper reflects upon the experiences of developing and delivering a sustainable design program at the University of Creative Arts, UK. It seeks to illustrate how a meaningful engagement with sustainability can also offer rich and rewarding research opportunities beyond simplistic or stereotypical ‘green design’ interpretations of sustainability. Three particular research trajectories are discussed on how they evolved and in-turn informed curriculum development. INTRODUCTION Many programs now report offering aspects of sustainable design 1 content within their curriculums. Some have made it a central and defining feature, such as the Product Design Sustainable Futures program (PDSF) at the University of Creative Arts, UK 2 . While others have chosen to offer individual ‘stand-alone’ or elective courses within their degree programs. The remainder may just offer a casual or intermittent relationship between sustainability and the design curriculum. An international survey of industrial design programs (presented at the 2007 ConnectED conference) found that respondents overwhelmingly declared that sustainability was relevant and important to their industrial design programs (Ramirez 2007). Other studies generally agree that sustainability was relevant to their curriculum, or that there is a need for further training in sustainability at design school (Blincoe et al 2008; AIA 2006; Metropolis 2003). However, opinions are divided as to how far sustainability should be integrated into design programs? Should it be appear explicitly as a standalone specialist course(s) or just offered as an optional electives? Alternatively, should it be seamlessly integrated or embedded into the program curriculum? What are the barriers and solutions faced by advocates for sustainable design education? I. AN EVOLVING CURRICULUM Since its inception, the evolution of sustainable design has been intertwined with design education. Many of the developments in designing for ecological and social needs emerged or flourished in educational contexts. Mavericks such as Richard Buckminster Fuller 3 and latter Victor Papanek provided a provocative and somewhat discordant view of design practices against the prevailing orthodoxies of design at the time. Both authors had close affiliations with 1 The term ‘sustainable design’ and ‘sustainability’ is used throughout this paper as shorthand to convey the many diverse fields of knowledge that specifically address or are inclusive of environmental and social criteria. 2 According to a 2007 survey most programs that place sustainability centrally within the curriculum are based in the UK (Ramirez 2007). 3 Buckminster Fuller is probably best known for his earlier architectural work experimenting with lightweight geodesic domes and prefabricated housing.