Design encompasses masters level study in Product Design Enterprise, degrees in product, fashion, interiors and communication (plus significant numbers of students in foundation courses).

1. Statement about sustainable practice in vocational area

Sustainable practice in design means creating solutions that balance the needs of the present with the needs of the future.

Note: The School of Design is a member of the Designers Accord (see below). As members of the Accord we adopt guidelines around the responsibilities of design practitioners which we must pass on to our students. We also agree to advance the understanding of environmental issues from a design perspective by contributing actively to the communal knowledge base for sustainable design. Staff within the school are also members of professional bodies such as The Designers Institute of NZ (DINZ) and Fashion Industry New Zealand (FINZ) which act as a voice for the design and fashion industries and address issues of sustainability through conferences, competitions and seminars.

2. Graduate Profile

Graduates will be aware of the principles of sustainable design and how to integrate these into design process and practice. They will be able to make informed decisions about the social, environmental and economic impact of their actions as designers.

3. Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes regarding sustainability are written; assessment intentions and teaching and learning strategies have been determined (detailed implementation not required).    

All learning outcomes will be re-written in 2009 as part of the move to 15 credit courses to include a statement re sustainability. Students will be assessed against these learning outcomes through incorporation in all assessment schedules.  An example of a learning outcome could be:

At the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate a response to the brief which addresses the integration of sustainable practice into the design process and a successful design solution

4. Staff Capability

Staff have a level of capability relevant to their teaching requirements, i.e. appropriate development has been undertaken.   

Staff are currently taking advantage of opportunities to develop their understanding and capability around sustainable design practice through attendance at conferences such as:

• Fashion Industry New Zealand (FINZ) Conference August 2008, 'The Future of Fashion' with themes around sustainability, smart textiles, education and Fashion PR.
• Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ) National Conference Day October 2008 - Sustainability and Imminent Change

Staff are also engaged in research specifically around sustainability. These include research into alternative transport models, design for development, sustainable models for the fashion industry, the use of digital practice as an antidote for affluenza. Conference presentations and journal articles are planned as a result of this research and are detailed in the Design Research Report.

The Department of Design is a member of the Designers Accord.  This is “a coalition of designers, educators, researchers, engineers, business consultants, and corporations, who are working together to create positive environmental and social impact”.  The vision of the Accord is a “creative community where the principles of sustainable design are seamlessly integrated into all practice and production”.

The Accord makes some strong statements about the role of the designer, including being proactive: “all adopters to engage in the conversation about social and environmental impact with every client and customer, and integrate sustainable alternatives in their work”.

The Designers Accord and the earlier Design Manifesto (Barnbrook 2007) make clear the wider responsibilities of designers:

The idea of the designer ‘transparent communicator’ is redundant. It was formulated before the rise of corporate power, globalisation, and before cool brands that graphic designers love to work for exploited and abused cheap foreign labour.

Other transformations include Cradle-to-cradle design (McDonough and Braungart 2003).  Design has adopted sustainability as a core concept in its teaching.  Figure 3 from Pat Maguire, for example, shows the role of sustainability in the Master of Product Design

In other programmes, EfS is both integrated, specific courses and elective options.

Design for sustainability is a strategic design activity finalised to conceive and develop sustainable solutions. That is systems of products and services that enable people to live better consuming (far) fewer environmental resources and improving (or, in many cases, regenerating) their physical and social contexts of life. The paper focuses on EcoReDesign strategy to improve the environmental performance of manufactured products.

And;

Students clarify their professional goals and design philosophy in this course. Some students chose to investigate and identify their position relative to sustainable design as a future practitioner. These students researched design practitioners as influences, their own backgrounds and philosophical positions producing a set of related documentation that informed their final pitch where they identified a professional direction they wished to embark on when they finish their degree- i.e. wrote their own graduate profile.

Within many courses, project work has a decidedly sustainable angle: human powered vehicle; sustainable living; sustainable business plan; content rating;

And practices are changing too, with focus on digital prototyping, changing casting methods, and so on.

• The responsibility of a designer is to add value to products and services
  Designers challenged to consider the ‘whole of life’ impact of their work – waste, re-design, re-thinking systems etc
• Design Department has joined the international Designers Accord a coalition of designers, educators, researchers, engineers, business consultants, and corporations, who are working together to create positive environmental and social impact
• Will soon be re-addressing the graduate profile in light of the Designers Accord agreements. Students need to drive and lead change.
• 40 courses already include sustainable elements either through project/assessment work or as the topic of the course. We challenge students to think sustainably and responsibly as designers. Next step is to make this integral.
• Teaching and Learning – there is already evidence of student interaction with the principles of sustainable design as evidenced in last year’s final student projects for example
• The Design Department has a lot of staff expertise in the area. Many are working collaboratively across disciplines and institutions and have been invited to present internationally on their work.

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