Bath School of Design

Case Studies 143The 2012 Imperative is a transformative learning project with the ambitious objective of embedding ecological and sustainability literacy in design education by 2012. The project . was launched with a ‘Teach-in’ which took place on 12 October2009 in a large lecture theatre at the Victoria and Albert Museum(V&A) in London. Sustainable education will depend on an ecologically literate educational paradigm, but making this shift is a daunting challenge.Stephen Sterling’s work on transformative learning suggests that a participatory approach to learning is necessary in order to effect the change in attitudes and behaviour required to integrate sustainability into formal education. This case study will describe the 2012 ImperativeTeach-in and report on progress towards the project’s goals. For background information please see the website:

Sustainable and Responsible Design (SRD) harnesses design’s potential to address eco-social problems and in doing so challenge the status quo of design education by reframing the social and ecological consequences, boundaries and agencies of design. This critical and transdisciplinary approach frays the edges of traditional design disciplines with embedded and reflexive modes of learning. We describe characteristics of SRD education and present theories of learning to empower students in this complex terrain. The learning associated with SRD education is ecologically engaged, participative, critical, expansive and designerly. We recount case studies of our own experiences advancing sustainable and responsible undergraduate design education in the UK. We identify path constraints such as disciplinary fragility, appropriation, and power dynamics in the design school. The push for a revision of priorities generates tensions where there is often greenwashing rhetoric of sustainability and inclusivity. We describe strategies and tactics to address these tensions. We highlight the agency we have as educators and designers and argue that design education can only meaningfully participate in response to the challenges presented by climate change, other types of ecocide, and social problems when educators make substantive commitments to supporting sustainability literacies and design approaches that serve the interests of diverse stakeholders.