How cool would it be if design programs graduated climate designers?
Most companies set up and operate a sustainability department within their org. Great! Checkbox checked.
Smart companies don't do this. They understand that taking climate action as a business should be (has to be) foundational to their day-to-day. Baked into everything they do.
Design schools are behind on this. Similarly, many of these schools treat sustainability classes as an elective, something students may choose to take if they have room in their schedules.
This needs to change. We need to shift everything we do, both in the classroom and in our professional world, towards addressing our climate breakdown.
As much as we need more design professionals to understand how they can take climate action in the work they do, we need to also invest in training design students so that they enter the industry already equipped with the know-how and resources in putting climate at the core of their work.
Many art/design schools have students go through an art foundation or core program. Imagine if design schools built their foundation with sustainability and regeneration materials.
What if students were exposed to systems thinking alongside typography? What if students were thought the wisdom of Bucky Fuller and Donella Meadows alongside Massimo Vignelli and Paula Scher?
How cool would it be if design programs graduated climate designers?
Design educators, check out what we're doing at Climate Designers. If you teach, let me know your thoughts on how we can retrofit the foundations of design schools.
