Designing for sustainability

This unit introduces the foundational principles of sustainability theory and sustainable design practices, fostering the mindset shift designers need to create interventions that drive meaningful social and environmental innovation.

You will explore how design can address environmental and social challenges through rotating themes such as ecological repair, social innovation, and systems thinking. Each semester, the studio might offer a different thematic focus - such as regenerative environments, circular systems, design for Social Innovation, or design justice - and grounded in real-world contexts, both local and global.

You will engage in hands-on, project-based learning - individually and in teams - through interdisciplinary collaboration, and systems-based design approaches. Through tools such as systems mapping, ethnographic inquiry, and rapid prototyping, you will co-create design outcomes that range from spatial interventions and services to communication strategies and speculative futures. Some offerings may involve collaborations with community partners, industry stakeholders, or site-based research and visits. Project outcomes may take the form of digital and/or physical artefacts, design process documentation, and proposals that drive meaningful impact.

The unit welcomes students from diverse design disciplines and encourages pluralistic approaches that foster equity, inclusion, and environmental stewardship.