AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE DESIGN EDUCATION

Since the early 90s Loughborough University has included sustainability in its teaching, but in 2000 an education for sustainability programme was developed by Eddie Norman to further engage second year students with the sustainable design agenda. Sustainable design thinking is now integrated into other parts of degree level teaching within all years. Sustainable design also plays an important role in postgraduate studies within the department. The Department of Design and Technology has been involved in a number of research projects related to sustainable design which include the development of a number of tools, and the dissemination of new understanding for professional designers to get to grips with sustainability. Loughborough University has also been strongly involved with the development of sustainable design resources for schools. These initiatives are presented and the similarities and differences between these approaches are discussed. A view of the importance of developing an integrated approach to design for sustainability, that builds knowledge as a student’s education continues, is presented along with reflections on how this approach better prepares future designers for industry.