DEEDS (DEsign EDucation & Sustainability)

aims to demonstrate the actual and potential added-value of a sustainable design approach to design educators, design students, design professionals, as well as the wider design industry and policy-makers.

DEEDS aims to raise new levels of awareness by integrating information, knowledge and thinking, while developing design approaches, in order to inspire, catalyse and transform design teachers, students and professionals and encourage development of ‘natural’ value-based (not cost-based) habits that move us towards more sustainable ways of living and working.

The DEEDS approach is guided by a set of inter-related and inter-connected ‘core principles’ called SCALES that suggest a sensitive, responsible, creative and innovative position to help designers with the challenge of sustainability: SCALES – Skills, Creating change agents, Awareness, Learning together, Ethical responsibilities, Synergy & co-creating

These principles can be used as a check list against any design project, and they are intended to enhance creativity and provide guidance towards sustainability.

Case studies, examples and other material are documented on the DEEDS homepage www.deedsproject.org, in particular an evolving Teaching & Learning resource called the ‘Podscape’. The Podscape is for sharing ‘Pods’, discrete units of knowledge, information and T&L resources, for sustainable design education and practice.

New pods are still being sought and, if you would like to submit a pod to the Podscape, please email the DEEDS project, info@deedsproject.org. Submissions are FREE and are designed to share knowledge around Europe about ways educators and professionals can teach others about sustainable design and practice. Pods may address one or more of the following themes:

- Pedagogic research, theories, approaches, and experiments in sustainable design education

- Practical implementation of sustainability design education (e.g. project work, case studies, best practice, partnership with industry)

- Political, institutional, and philosophical aspects of sustainable design education

Pods may take the form of:

- Short essays

- Case studies

- Module or curriculum outlines

- Collections of teaching materials (images, audio-video, etc.)