Designs on the Planet: A workshop series on architectural education and the challenges of climate change

The design of human settlements is a key factor for addressing carbon emissions, finite resource availability, ecological deterioration and climate change. The role of architectural education in promoting the principles and practices which address these issues is significant. New pedagogic paradigms are required to produce graduates endowed with holistic competences including environmental knowledge related to sustainable design. These competencies are set to become a compulsory part of professional architectural education in the UK, although the successful incorporation of technical principles within creative design still faces a number of pedagogic barriers. To address these challenges, the Designs on the Planet workshop series was set up as a national forum. Its primary aim was to contribute to the development of environmental responsibility as a creative factor in the practice and pedagogy of architecture. The workshops were attended by academics, educators, practitioners and representatives of professional bodies. This paper reviews the year-long process of DoP, presenting the conclusions of the workshops, exploring the results of the application of the pedagogic principles within participating universities and discussing new teaching methodologies and curricular structures which could facilitate overcoming the divide between sustainability- related building sciences and architectural design in higher education and professional practice