Design for Sustainability Online Short Course
Course description
Course overview
Design for Sustainability is a course for designers and people who work with design and offers a hands-on introduction to integrating sustainability within the design process. It is multi-disciplinary and so is applicable to all design disciplines (fashion, product, service, business model, architecture, UX, strategy, etc.).
This four-week course will introduce practical ideas, concepts, and processes through which designers can create more sustainable outcomes at all levels. Design for Sustainability takes you through the basic tools of designing for sustainability: Systems mapping, design thinking for sustainability, circular economy and an understanding of impacts. All aimed at defining and integrating sustainability in your work and you taking ownership of sustainability.
You will learn through a combination of discussions, short lectures, inspirational case studies, introduction to tools, and practical application of tools through hands-on assignment briefs.
Who this course is for
This is a course for designers and people who work with design, seeking an introduction and experience in working with sustainability in the design process. Design for Sustainability is suitable both for experienced professionals and for recent graduates wanting to make the sustainability agenda their own, as well as for both sustainability novices and sustainability passionistas, who have already taken the first couple of steps. All levels welcome.
Key information
Topics covered
- Introduction to sustainability in design, why, how and what
- Strategies for sustainability
- Design thinking for design for sustainability
- Introduction to design for sustainability tools
- Exploration of systems thinking and systems mapping
- Introduction to circular economy concepts
- Circularity of materials and waste
- Waste as a resource
- Redesign processes for sustainability
- Life cycle analysis and impact measurement
- People centred design
- Learning from nature: Permaculture principles, biomimicry
- Transition design
Learning outcomes
- Gain an overview of the main drivers of sustainability, internationally and cross-sectoral
- Know the main strategies for sustainability
- Explore the sustainability potential in your work
- Establish fluency in the jargon jungle
- Understand the sustainable impact in your own value chain
- Have insight into designing processes for sustainability
- Understand the tools to advocate sustainable design and create better or more sustainable designs yourself
- Work on a live project of your choosing, designing for sustainability
- Present your design for sustainability to the group and receive tutor feedback
- Receive a digital badge and certificate of attendance
Materials
- Paper and pen to take notes
Please see our Guide to taking online short courses.
Tutor
Laetitia Forst
Dr Laetitia Forst is a circular textile design researcher at the University of the Arts London (UAL). She holds a master's degree in textile design from ENSAD Paris, and a PhD on the subject of design for disassembly from UAL. Her work engages multidisciplinary collaborations, bridging the gap between material technology and design to support a shift to circularity in industry. She has been involved in a range of UK and EU funded research project pushing the boundaries of sustainable and circular textile. The Remodelling fashion project explored future scenario building as a transformation method for businesses the HEREWEAR project championed bio-based, circular and local innovation for textiles and the Quantifying Circularity project developed carbon calculation methods for design for recycling. She has recently led on three UKRI funded projects: the Weaving for Reuse project, developing disassemblable textiles for in holistic fashion design the New Composites project, setting guidelines for circular textile design with next-gen materials and the Scaling Circularity project, developing a proof of concept for fashion product inventory classification for recyclability. In all projects, her focus is always on the role of design and textile experimentation to achieve sustainability.
Tim Harris
Tim Harris is a behaviour-led strategist, circular economist, and multi-disciplinary designer. He has 25 years’ experience helping global organisations embed empathy and sustainability into brands through systems and design thinking. He teaches Design & Innovation Management at the University of the Arts London, and runs an independent consultancy delivering human‑centred insights for sustainable business transformation.
Tim began his career as a graphic designer in New York, and his practice has evolved to encompass interaction, experience, and service design. He served as UX Architect for NHS.UK and Service Design Lead at Fjord (now Accenture Song) and Designit, working across diverse industries including cosmetics, aviation, energy, fashion, and financial services. As Executive Director of Service Design for The Estée Lauder Companies, he guided brands such as Aveda, Jo Malone, MAC Cosmetics, and Origins to develop more sustainable and customer-centric approaches to design and innovation. Tim has lived and worked in several countries, including Brazil, Japan, The Netherlands, Singapore & Spain, and is passionate about learning languages.
For further information see his Linkedin page, timdharris.com/design, and timworks.net
Book a course
Loading