The delivery of green design techniques in an immersive learning environment

This paper details the immersive learning techniques pioneered in the delivery of a postgraduate module within a new course, MSc Advanced Product Design. The course was written to help graduates engage with thinking and techniques that are at or slightly in front of industry's cutting edge. The module at the focus of this paper, Sustainability Issues in Design for Production (SIDP) was designed to bring the consequences of the design choices in terms of resource depletion, pollution and climate change to the student's attention. To make the consequences of energy use, consumption of materials and subsequent waste more meaningful, the graduates were taken to the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT). While at CAT the students were given lectures on sustainability and access to information on alternative materials. Most importantly however, they were housed in specially designed accommodation where they directly experienced the consequence of their use of resources. Hence every time they used too much power they would experience a short power cut, when they needed heat they had to collect wood, and throughout their stay they were required to monitor their energy use. The paper starts by briefly discussing learning environments and their authenticity. It continues by describing the SIDP module delivery in more detail and presents a case study of the project with an analysis of the results. In conclusion it looks to the future and how the module is expected to develop.