Suchergebnisse

Purpose
– The purpose of the paper is to advance the understanding of the role design education plays in sustainable development. It presents a capacity building framework that can be accommodated in various levels of design curriculum development. The framework allows for a macro-view on the key clusters of competencies for ecodesign while allowing for alignment with quantitative and qualitative approaches to evaluation and assessment. The proposed framework does not intend to be universally prescriptive, and it should provide a context for the development bespoke educational programmes and activities.


Design/methodology/approach
– The research utilises a variety of data sources and methods to provide answers to the research questions. Empirical data were collected through the course of a two-year programme of capacity building with design educators in Wales. This two-year programme incorporated a series of workshops and scoping discussions with teaching staff. Additional data were collected through a literature review and best practice scanning. Thus, the research did not follow a linear process. Instead, it was performed according to an iterative process, evolved by interaction between a theoretical foundation (capacity building, ecodesign education) and empirical material (workshops, literature review).


Findings
– Design education may need to situate itself away from the traditional art or engineering setting to facilitate greater interdisciplinary learning. This repositioning of design education will allow for multidisciplinary relationships with other schools and communities such as social science, business or planning. There will be a role for the promotion of international design institutes that provide a more concentrated experience of the value of design and design education.


Research limitations/implications
– This paper sought to explore the context of capacity for sustainable development as it relates to design education. It briefly highlighted some gaps in the literature on capacity building for ecodesign education along with proposing a conceptual framework of key competencies. The intention is to initiate a discussion on the means by which these can be integrated into mainstream design education, lifelong learning and entrepreneurship training.


Originality/value
– There is no similar framework presented in the literature. Much of the research originates from original research conducted with four universities in a unique programme of capacity building. The paper provides the basis for deeper insights into the interdisciplinary perspectives required. This is something the authors hope to report on this year.

This paper is in closed access. ; © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Achieving a sustainable society requires design practitioners to eco-innovate through material selection. Material selection resources are evolving, including physical material libraries, databases, software and tools that connect materials with designers. However, the material-properties focus of these resources risks over-rationalising material selection within the context of technical material properties. Material selection needs consideration of a broader material system, reflecting sectoral behaviour, stakeholders, legislation, access to knowledge and networks. In light of this, the aim of this research is to deepen understanding of ecodesign by investigating the role of key stakeholders during material selection for the development of eco-innovative products. The research method is an in-depth case study at a sustainability-focused furniture design business. Four embedded case studies of New Product Developments (NPD) are drawn from within the main case. The case study methods include interviews, site visits and observation activities spanning three years. The case studies uncover the role of stakeholders in eco-innovative material selection during New Product Development of office furniture. The paper presents eco-innovations based on standard portfolio materials and new material adoptions. Ecodesign strategies employed include (1) Design for Disassembly (2) Dematerialisation (3) Material Streamlining and (4) Part Reduction. The results uncover how the efficacy of ecodesign decision-making is strongly dependent on stakeholder knowledge, characterised by heuristics with conflicting trade-offs along product life cycles. From this the paper presents SPICE, a new conceptual model and material portfolio classification. By linking stakeholders, material selection, ecodesign and trade-offs, the SPICE model aids strategic design management and material selection for eco-innovation.