Sustainability theory and practice in industrial design education: A comparative case study

Abstract

Sustainability has become a significant part of design education, either as an integrated subject or as a central focus in courses with diverse structures and pedagogical approaches. The necessary approaches, tools, and methods have been developed over the past thirty years and continue to evolve. This study examines how design for sustainability can be taught in undergraduate design education. First, background information is established on the scope of design, design for resilience and sustainability, and design education. While the literature focuses primarily on integrating sustainability into design curricula or studios, theoretical courses on design for sustainability in undergraduate design education have not been sufficiently explored. Therefore, this study examines two consecutive semesters of an elective course on design for sustainability, which has both a theoretical and practical structure, through a comparative case study. Course documents and outcomes from two semesters, before and after the course's time plan and evaluation criteria were updated, were analyzed and compared. The comparison focused on the course process and the themes of the final projects, as well as the sustainability goals they aimed to contribute to. The findings reveal that shifting the focus of the course process and outcome criteria from the design ideation phase to the design development phase altered the course outcomes. Furthermore, examining the results obtained by students participating in an international student design competition on sustainable design, using the projects they developed during the course, indicates that competitions improve the quality of project outcomes and student motivation, while also providing validation of design success and sustainability impact. The study can provide information to researchers, instructors, and practitioners working on design for sustainability and design education.