Educating for a systems design approach to complex societal problems

Design education has devoted little attention to the topic of societal systems transformation in the context of sustainable development. This paper reports on a master‘s-level course that aims to build the capacity for design engineering students to adopt a Systems Design Approach comprised of the i...

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Main Authors: Costa Junior, Jairo da, Diehl, Jan Carel, Secomandi, Fernando
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52021/
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author Costa Junior, Jairo da
Diehl, Jan Carel
Secomandi, Fernando
author_facet Costa Junior, Jairo da
Diehl, Jan Carel
Secomandi, Fernando
author_sort Costa Junior, Jairo da
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Design education has devoted little attention to the topic of societal systems transformation in the context of sustainable development. This paper reports on a master‘s-level course that aims to build the capacity for design engineering students to adopt a Systems Design Approach comprised of the integration of Product-Service System (PSS) and Systems Thinking, in order to develop sustainable energy systems concepts. We identify key factors for skilful performance when designing solutions for complex societal problems. The findings suggest that design approaches grounded in systems thinking are promising for dealing with the increasing complexity of the societal problems which future generations of design professionals are expected to solve. An Open Learning E-Package (OLEP) was offered to support Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to introduce Product-Services Systems and Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) models into their design curricula. We argue that capacity building for a systems design approach to complex societal problems, such as those faced in low-income energy markets, can support future generations of design engineers to take an active role in the development and widespread implementation of sustainable energy systems.
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spelling nottingham-520212020-05-04T19:31:19Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52021/ Educating for a systems design approach to complex societal problems Costa Junior, Jairo da Diehl, Jan Carel Secomandi, Fernando Design education has devoted little attention to the topic of societal systems transformation in the context of sustainable development. This paper reports on a master‘s-level course that aims to build the capacity for design engineering students to adopt a Systems Design Approach comprised of the integration of Product-Service System (PSS) and Systems Thinking, in order to develop sustainable energy systems concepts. We identify key factors for skilful performance when designing solutions for complex societal problems. The findings suggest that design approaches grounded in systems thinking are promising for dealing with the increasing complexity of the societal problems which future generations of design professionals are expected to solve. An Open Learning E-Package (OLEP) was offered to support Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to introduce Product-Services Systems and Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) models into their design curricula. We argue that capacity building for a systems design approach to complex societal problems, such as those faced in low-income energy markets, can support future generations of design engineers to take an active role in the development and widespread implementation of sustainable energy systems. Taylor & Francis 2018-02-07 Article PeerReviewed Costa Junior, Jairo da, Diehl, Jan Carel and Secomandi, Fernando (2018) Educating for a systems design approach to complex societal problems. Journal of Engineering Design, 29 (3). pp. 65-86. ISSN 1466-1837 Capacity building; systems design approach; sustainable product-service system; distributed renewable energy; complex societal problem https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09544828.2018.1436162 doi:10.1080/09544828.2018.1436162 doi:10.1080/09544828.2018.1436162
spellingShingle Capacity building; systems design approach; sustainable product-service system; distributed renewable energy; complex societal problem
Costa Junior, Jairo da
Diehl, Jan Carel
Secomandi, Fernando
Educating for a systems design approach to complex societal problems
title Educating for a systems design approach to complex societal problems
title_full Educating for a systems design approach to complex societal problems
title_fullStr Educating for a systems design approach to complex societal problems
title_full_unstemmed Educating for a systems design approach to complex societal problems
title_short Educating for a systems design approach to complex societal problems
title_sort educating for a systems design approach to complex societal problems
topic Capacity building; systems design approach; sustainable product-service system; distributed renewable energy; complex societal problem
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52021/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52021/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52021/