Research and Publication

Sustainability and higher education design curricula

  About

To respond to the current issues the world is facing, sustainability needs to become part of what defines humans, it needs to become part of our ontology.
Charlotte’s research looks at the role of urban farming, and more generally growing food, in the process of learning about sustainability. Complementing her design work in urban farming, she wrote a number of papers exploring design philosophy and theory in relation to urban farming, design and education.

  Paper1

Article Title:
Education: A Platform towards ‘Sustainment’: ‘Growing Food’ as an Ontologically Designing Practice

Type:
Masters dissertation paper – 15000 words
Disicplines: Sustainable Design, Education
Supervisor: Prof. Tony Fry
Assessed by: Dr Eleni Kanditilou and Jim Gall
GPA 6.0

Abstract:
This thesis aims to demonstrate the major role of education in the development of a sustainable future and the necessity of creating education programs adapted to the state of the world. This paper explores and defines the issues related to postmodern educational systems, and identifies the need for change. It then presents a design concept involving an education program based on the practice of ‘growing food’, and using education as a platform towards a more sustainable future. This essay details the project by presenting the format, values and principles, methods of learning, development strategy and content of the program.

  Paper2

Article Title:
Private gardens as productive land:
Urban farming; towards social and responsible production

Type:
DSAA (Equivalent of Master) Dissertation paper – 20000 words
Disciplines: Service Design, Design Philosophy
Supervisors: Vincent Rossin, Vaina Le Costumer
Assessed by : Anonymous commission of designers and researchers
GPA: 6.0

Abstract (Translated from French):
In courtyards, along train tracks or hidden behind fences, green spaces of all sizes and shapes, gardens inhabit the urban space. While public parks address the notions of well-being and leisure, other types of gardens, such as community gardens, have started to grow and question different issues on environmental, cultural and social levels. However, these spaces face major development barriers associated with urban constraints and settings. Meanwhile, surrounding major urban centres, a different type of green spaces exists: private gardens. Would it be possible to imagine a new service as an alternative or complement to crowded urban community gardens? Could this service facilitate inter-cultural and inter-generational relationships in the city? This project looks at shifting from gardens as fenced up, inaccessible spaces to a more open and collective approach promoting the notion of productive land and social experience. This paper aims to explain how such service would function, addressing the notion of sharing as well as environmental, social and cultural sustainability. It highlights the major role of service design as a tool for change, towards a different perception of urban spaces.