Education and sustainable development: a new context for design

The subject matter of design is the one that concerns itself with change and alternative resolutions (Buchanan, 1995). Increasingly design problems are issue-led with an emerging metaissue of sustainable development (SD) (Fuad-Luke, 2009). This paper discusses the issue of SD in the context of public services in the UK as an opportunity for design. As there is a great diversity in the context, organizational complexity, design and delivery of public services, the focus is on the UK primary education. UNESCO (2009) identified education to be critical in promoting SD and for schools to become ‘centres of expertise and innovation’ in the area. A non mandatory goal from the government and the lack of clarity in definition of SD (Bourn, 2005) leaves schools without strategic incentive for change. The preliminary findings from the interviews of six case studies presented in this paper will seek to explore and identify characteristics and current approaches to SD in the UK schools. The findings will become a foundation for discussion of the role of design within this new context.