IA40620

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS MODULE IS PROGRAMME BASED. THIS MODULE IS NOT OPEN TO OTHER UCD STUDENTS.

Purpose

The challenges of sustainability are inherently complex and beyond the remit of any one discipline or sector. The aim of this module is to develop your Sustainability Mindset: that will help you adopt a systems and design thinking approach to solving challenges and enable a sustainable future for everyone.

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them” Einstein, 1946


Overarching Content

You will be introduced to key concepts, theories and terms in Sustainability as well as the history of the field and key questions and schools of thought. You will explore challenges from environmental, economic and social perspectives, as well as consider various frameworks including the Sustainable Development Goals as we navigate into the future.

Focusing on the context in Ireland, you will gain an overview of a number of key sectors (e.g. food, transport, energy, and retail). and examine the challenges of Sustainability within each of them from Environmental, Economic and Social lenses, engaging with key stakeholders & users.

You will engage with Design Thinking and other Systems Thinking approaches - theories, methodologies, processes, tools - and apply them in your project.

You will also engage with the UCD Innovation Academy Sustainable Living Lab to learn tools to prototype and test various sustainable solutions.

Over the course of this module you will work in multidisciplinary teams on real-world challenges across different key sectors (e.g. food, transport, energy, and retail). You will use design thinking approaches to engage with complex challenges in order to co-create innovative, sustainable solutions.

You will also be expected to undertake significant self-directed study to gain a broad understanding of sustainability and of the challenges as relevant to your projects.

Successful completion of this module will allow you to be enrolled in IA40610 and complete the Graduate Diploma in Design Thinking for Sustainability.

Notes:

Enrolment in an Innovation Academy module means a commitment to active participation and engagement, which necessitates attendance at scheduled classes. We limit our class size to 40 students or less. We require a minimum of 16 participants to ensure enough people for teamwork and a dynamic classroom environment.

Schedule Details & Assessment schedule will adjust based on the length and timing of each delivery of this module.

UCD Innovation Academy : About Us

At the UCD Innovation Academy, we are a group of Educator Practitioners with extensive real-world experience as academics, business and social entrepreneurs, tech thinkers, creative professionals and design thinking practitioners.
We take an action-oriented approach to learning, with a combination of individual, group and class tasks and activities, including discussions, presentations and reflection. All of our teaching is grounded in academic rigour, and our focus is on learning from doing in a real-world context.

https://www.innovationacademy.ie/courses/ucd-graduate-diploma-in-design-thinking-for-sustainability/