Net-Zero Design Education. Transition to “Better States” in Understanding Carbon and the Design Process

Abstract

Design education must adapt to the changing attitudes of student designers, and industry immediately. The consequence of how we design shapes the attitudes, values, and decisions student designers make across a professional career. Design education must be responsible for how they facilitate a course and the projects they deploy. Decision-making in the process of designing subsequently develops values and impacts that transcend beyond a design course. The research adopted a mixed-methods approach comprising of semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and data tracking of an undergraduate visual communication cohort. Activity data enabled understanding of the cultural, leadership and transitioning challenges associated with the design process. The project surfaced gaps in the organisation, knowledge, process, skills, tools and technologies embedded into the design process. This research situates a critical pivot in design education demanding a cultural shift for a Net-Zero world.