The teaching guide for The Designer’s Atlas of Sustainability has lots of ideas to help you work through sustainability issues with design students. (Note that the newsletters continue to update the teaching guide)

latest addendum: 12 January 09, contains 9 new design briefs and exercises covering topics such as aging, climate change, chemicals, sustainable consumption and deep ecology.

last full version: 17 June 08
suitability: suits a range of disciplines, including architecture and product design, as well as fashion, graphic and interior design at both undergraduate and graduate level.
format: PDF format, about 3MB in size with color images, hotlinks.
contents: 28 design briefs and exercises, more than 20 additional resources and tips (eg ideas for films, essay topics and trips).

The design briefs investigate a wide range of topics--such as outdoor lighting, children’s needs, or sensuality—from a sustainability perspective. Other examples include:
– the practical realities of local design for local production
– meaning from dramatic events: memorials and rites of passage
– open source methods in design development
– “slow design,” making people mindful of speed and time

The guide’s exercises cover quizzes, estimation, hands-on experiment, debate and role play, among others. Examples include:
– an introductory biomimicry laboratory
– ethical and fair trade issues
– the “happiness barometer”
- models of practice that enable design activism

Want to know more before you download the whole guide? Review some selected summaries of the teaching resources it contains. Also see my "Q & A" on the future of sustainable design education. Also find out more about joining the general discussion list on teaching sustainable design.

Request guide and/or the addendum: complete the form and you'll shortly recieve an email asking for confirmation of your request. The confirmation link is the download page.

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Thanks, and If you have any problems please email me at
ann[at]designers-atlas.net