Sustainability in Education
I got a call a few months back from Monika Warzecha of Corporate Knights, a Canadian Magazine that focuses on corporate responsibility. We had a fantastic chat about my education in Industrial Design and where we think designers fit into sustainability. To read the report click here.
Here is the interview.
| Written by Monika Warzecha, Editorial Assistant |
Q&A: Revelations from Brandy Burdeniuk, Industrial Designer
Industrial Design is a mysterious profession; few people outside the design world know exactly what it entails. Essentially, it is about product design, and in our consumer-design world, nearly everything we come into contact with has been shaped by an industrial designer. Part engineer and part artist, industrial designers have the power to ensure that the things we buy (and throw away) won’t harm our health or the environment.
Editorial Assistant Monika Warzecha spoke to Brandy Burdeniuk of EcoAmmo about sustainability and industrial design.
Monika Warzecha: Are you finding more people are becoming interested in greening design?
Brandy Burdeniuk: Absolutely. I have [a colleague] who teaches industrial design at the University of Alberta. Four or five years ago when he talked about green design and sustainability in class, he got a lot of blank stares and rolling eyes. Now he has students finishing his sentences and talking about the projects he’s talking about, nodding, and really, really excited about sustainability.
MW: Is sustainability treated as more of a niche issue? If you’re interested in it, you can seek it out, but it isn’t something that everyone should have to take.
BB: Yes, and that is changing. A lot of professors in their day-to-day activities are starting to incorporate it into their courses, whether it’s a comment here or there. It’s not a delinquency for the department, quite honestly. It’s just the time and the resources they have available to put towards these things.
