DESIGN EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY (II)

An Overview of Japanese and UK Universities Integrating Sustainability into Product Design Course

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify, describe, and discuss the characteristics of current Japanese and United Kingdom universities that offer undergraduate and graduate course with sustainability and ecodesign modules. In order to do so, data was collected of Japanese universities are studied and compared with UK Universities. According to the results, the number of ecodesign and sustainability modules that have been integrated formally into undergraduate and postgraduate level in Japanese universities is relatively low in comparison with UK universities. The eight Japanese universities that offer industrial design courses with ecodesign and sustainability modules are characterized as optional modules with art/craft/design approaches, and the majority are found in private and prefectural universities. In the British universities, the majority of sustainability modules are considered compulsory and characterized as long-term, and five universities offer specialized undergraduate and postgraduate modules in sustainable design.