Course content

This course aims to develop the student's personal engagement towards sustainability issues in product design. For Industrial Ecology (or other) master students that take this course as an elective, it provides the opportunity to experience how designers deal with sustainability issues and to discuss sustainability on a product and company level.
As such, this is not at typical design course; the course will have a specific focus on the interdependency between the industrial practice and design activities.
Topics include environmental assessment of product life cycles, product improvement strategies, end-of-life strategies, product service systems, green marketing and communication, the role of internal and external value chains, stakeholder analysis.

Learning outcome

This course presents the design function as a strategic tool to develop, design and implement industrial ecological systems, products and services. This course gives the students theory, methodological tools and practical case studies in how to accomplish change through the means of sustainable values in design processes. Without being moralistic, it also aims to provide the students with the ability to reflect on their own responsibilities in their future role in an industrial chain, in particular as a designer.

Learning methods and activities

The course runs partly in combination with TPD4145, which is a required course for 3rd year IPD students. The course is taught in English.
The students will follow the lectures in Ecodesign TPD4145, and do the same assignments, which involves 1-hour preparation weekly assignments that are the basis for group discussions, as well as group assignments in which they interact with IPD students. Alternative forms of assignments can be discussed; for example trading one of the group assignments for an essay on a piece of research or literature review that relates a student's specific interest or expertise with the area of ecodesign. Guestlecturers will be invited for specific detailing in some of the themes.
Grading: Two group projects 40% each, written assignment 20%, and completion of one-hour assignments.

Recommended previous knowledge

Basic knowledge of product development, but this is not essential.

Course materials

Compendium and lectures.

Credit reductions