Development that meets the needs of the present w ithout compromising the ability of future generations to meet their ow n needs. —The Brundtland Report, 1987

​

This definition was actually attributed to Sustainable Development, which is a bit of a hotly contested term in some proenvironmental circles. Some would question that if something is sustainable, how can it be based in development, which is often misconstrued as only being about economic growth. Already, we’re beginning to see how quickly the terminology can get confusing.

Given the magnitude and generational importance of sustainability, and the role that design can and must play in all problem solving, decisions and policy making exercises that impact the health of individuals, communities, societies, ecosystems and planetary life, it is a wonder to me that sustainability has not yet garnered more attention from our current postsecondary design curricula.

The days of the celebrity solo designer are over. Complex systems are shaped by all the

people who use them, and in this new era of collaborative innovation, designers are

having to evolve from being the individual authors of objects, or buildings, to being the

facilitators of change among large groups of people. (Thackara, c2005)

​

The complex systems that Thackara refers to are a fact of our modern life. Ecological, social, cultural, economic, and psychological (awareness) problems interact and are dynamically interrelated in the current crises of our unsustainable civilization and according to Thackara, we have designed our way into many of the troubling, multi‐faceted, and complex systems we find ourselves within today.

We as a society are fully engrained in systems that are defined by the technological advances of the past. And rightly so! The number of medical, scientific, mechanical and hitech advancements that have improved life and increased the safety of our world in the past 100 years are too numerous to list. It is not reasonable to ask people to revert to simpler times or outdated modes of interacting with their environment. What may be reasonable is to ask the people who invent, design, and manufacture the products that we use, to do so in a more responsible manner.

I never considered myself an environmentalist before I undertook a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies. To be perfectly honest, I still don’t see the stereotypical treehugging, granolaeating environmentalist when I look in the mirror. I did the

degree in an attempt to diversify my knowledge base and because I was curious about the linkages that might be made with design. But what I have come to understand is that we all need to become more aware of the impacts we are having on this planet if we have any hope of sustaining any sort of a livable existence on spaceship Earth.

It has been suggested that the transition towards a sustainable human presence in the world is the wicked problem of the 21st century. (D. C. Wahl, 2006) But sustainability is not some ultimate endpoint, there is no stopping rule. “Designing for sustainability not only requires the redesign of our habits, lifestyles, and practices, but also the way we think about design.” (D. C. Wahl & Baxter, 2008) There are no quick fixes to this wicked problem, only better or worse outcomes. Designing for sustainability requires constant evolution and evaluation and diverse communities making flexible and adaptable design decisions on local, regional, national, and global scales. Transdisciplinary design dialogue is imperative and it needs to begin—for our young designers—in the classroom. The design process provides a roadmap for navigating the cyclical, adaptive, and unique qualities of wicked problems, but young designers need to be educated about their potential as the facilitators of this change.

As a design educator with 20+ years of industry experience, overlapped with 15+ years of academic experience, I have witnessed many changes—not least of which, in myself.

As a part-time design educator, I taught a nice range of design courses. From Typography to Information Design, from Corporate Identity to Packaging. For ten years, I sharpened my own understanding of all of these topics while working with students to help them wrap their heads around the concepts as well. By the time I was ready for full time academia, I thought I had a pretty good grasp of the creative mind and how I could help students navigate their way through course content.

What I later came to realize, is that I probably more accurately had a pretty good grasp

of the creative designer’s mind.