Integrating Sustainability Literacy into Design Education

A base definition of sustainability is balancing environmental, economic and societal concerns with future generations in mind. At its core, sustainability is future-focused, as the education of future design professionals must be. Design is understood to be a discipline seeking to improve the condition of current and future populations. Why then, is sustainability not universally integrated into design education programs and their curricula? This paper will look at a logical framework for instructors to introduce sustainability into design curriculum in a manner that shifts from looking at sustainability competencies, to a more profession-specific vision for sustainable literacy. An argument for the need, approach and opportunity for sustainability literacy, as well as a case study in which this framework was applied to a graphic design studio class will be share.