| CODE | EER2507 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Developing Environmental Responsibility through Design and Technology | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Centre for Environmental Education and Research | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Design is currently acknowledged as having significant implications for sustainability – it is important that our education system not only considers design as shaping and ordering our world but also as determining our impact on it. Recent trends for the greening of universities require a green curriculum able to integrate environmental and sustainability concerns into teaching, research, and student engagement. Furthermore Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) often features as a cross curricular theme, as evidenced for example on a national scale through the current National Curriculum Framework. This unit seeks to infuse sustainability principles such as rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, repair and recycle while students go through their own design activities or plan design activities for others. The unit presents case studies of technological products and processes (such as solar cookers, green buildings, permaculture, and eco-fashion) and discusses their sustainability rating in terms of social, economic, cultural and environmental aspects while keeping in focus arguments about technological justice. The unit provides opportunity to experience planning sustainable technological design activities for a variety of audiences for example: young people, the general public, industry representatives. Study-Unit Aims: This study-unit aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills of students to ensure that their design approach is sustainable in terms of social, economic, cultural and environmental aspects. The unit will also help develop students’ confidence to investigate critique and design innovative and ethical solutions for sustainable futures and communicate these effectively to children, youth, adults, in a variety of community settings. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • List positive signs of change within design methods such as Cradle-to-Cradle and bio mimicry; • Describe positive Case Studies that illustrate important ways designers are helping to build a sustainable future; • Assess the links between design and atmospheric pollution, water pollution, biodiversity depletion, rights violations of indigenous populations, and other 21st century challenges; • Define appropriate technology and intermediate technology and describe how they are affecting the life of people; • Analyze user behaviour with reference to technological products and investigate ways of how this may be modified to achieve practices that are more sustainable. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • Design more sustainable products, services and systems; • Apply the four dimensions of Sustainable Design (Economic, Environmental, Cultural and Social Impacts) in their work; • Assess the success of design in terms of helping deliver solutions to 21st century sustainability challenges; • Construct design plans that adopt principles of sustainability. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - BRAUNGART, M. & MCDONOUGH, W. 2009. Cradle to Cradle. Remaking the Way We Make Things., London, Vintage. Supplementary Readings: - MILLER, A., LUPTON, E. & GRUNDBERG, A. 2009. Design for a Living World, New York, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. - CAPEWELL, I. (2007). The Sustainability Handbook for Design and Technology Teachers, Practical Action. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Vincent Caruana |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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