Investigating the Potential of Design Jams to Enhance Sustainable Design Education
DS 81: Proceedings of NordDesign 2014, Espoo, Finland 27-29th August 2014
Year: 2014
Editor: Miko Laakso, Kalevi Ekman
Author: Vezzani, Valentina; Tang, Tang
Series: NordDESIGN
Institution: University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Section: Education and teaching of design, product development, and innovation
Page(s): 037-046
ISBN: 978-1-904670-58-2
Abstract
It has been acknowledged that in the current sustainable design practice, the main focus tends to be on environmental and economic sustainability, while the social dimension of sustainability has been essentially neglected. This paper aims to address this disparity through Design Jams, and evaluates whether the use of Design Jams is relevant or not to engage student designers within social sustainability and impart key competencies in informal learning. Drawing on the literature on social sustainability in design (SSD) education, key competencies for sustainable development and Design Jams, this paper proposes a conceptual framework for SSD learning, and then outlines the findings from three Design Jam case studies conducted at School of Design, University of Leeds. The conclusion is drawn to inform an ongoing research project with the aim to explore ways in which student designers could be more engaged with social sustainability, and thus to become social change agents.
Keywords: Sustainable Design Education, social Sustainability, design Jams