Design af bæredygtige fremtider (Spring 2023)

Abstract

The aim of the course is to give the student a basic understanding of how to work with design, innovation and concept development, with an explicit focus on sustainability and regenerative thinking. Based on a specific design case, the students will learn to apply selected methods and approaches to promote ethical aspects and sustainability in an actual design context. Throughout the course, the student will learn to critically reflect upon the impact, ethical issues in and role of digital design in the transition towards a more sustainable future.

Description

NB: Kurset undervises på dansk

Today, we experience the dawn of a new paradigm, the Anthropocene Epoch - the human-made age where nature, climate and biodiversity has been transformed by mankind. Designers of digital technologies face unprecedented challenges questioning the fundamental values and ethics on which we base design and development of sustainable digital technologies. What is good and bad, and for whom? Sustainable and regenerative thinking are now prerequisite drivers for how we approach the design of new digital products and services, and develop new business models to support them. In this context, the purpose of design reaches much further than functionality, user experience aesthetically pleasing products and materials. Design is now a driving force for major societal change pointing towards a new form of “design activism”. This requires us to explore new ways of thinking about design and innovation and to undertake novel design processes where ethical dilemmas and the product's environmental, social and economic impact are balanced or even improved.

Formal prerequisites

The student should have followed Philosophy of Science and Technologies (BDDIT) or similar course. The student should be able to read and critically engage with academic texts

Intended learning outcomes

Efter kurset skal den studerende være i stand til:

• Display an understanding of key concepts such as sustainability, regenerative thinking, and their relation to design
• Identify relevant challenges for how digital design can support sustainability and regeneration
• Demonstrate application of design methods to promote a sustainable and regenerative mindset in a digital design context
• Reflect upon and discuss the role of digital design in the transition towards a sustainable future

Learning activities

NB: Kurset undervises på dansk 

The course Designing Sustainable Futures will explore an extended understanding of sustainability and how it relates to design. The aim is to provide the student with a theoretical foundation to discuss central aspects and meanings of sustainability and regenerative thinking in a digital design context. 

Furthermore, the students will get basic knowledge, tools and methods to emphasize and promote sustainable, ethical and regenerative perspectives in the design process of new digital technologies. 

Through a design challenge, and minor design exercises, the students will learn to apply theory and methods in identifying design opportunities and developing future societal solutions fit for humans and nature alike.

The course consists of lectures, readings, exercises, and design assignments. Students will work individually as well as in groups. 

Course literature

The course literature is published in the course page in LearnIT.

Student Activity Budget

Estimated distribution of learning activities for the typical student

• Preparation for lectures and exercises: 15%
• Lectures: 20%
• Exercises: 25%
• Assignments: 20%
• Exam with preparation: 10%
• Other: 10%

Ordinary exam

Exam type:
D: Submission of written work with following oral, External (7-point scale)
Exam variation:
D2G: Submission for groups with following oral exam supplemented by the submission. Shared responsibility for the report.

reexam

Exam type:
D: Submission of written work with following oral, External (7-point scale)
Exam variation:
D22: Submission with following oral exam supplemented by the submission.

Time and date