Design Thinking for Sustainability

This course provides an introduction to the principles of design thinking and allows an opportunity to deploy these principles to solve a sustainability challenge. Design thinking offers a systematic approach to unleash the innovative and creative forces of individuals in a collaborative space, and applies methodologies of design to solve challenges to the environment and society, while simultaneously providing a more engaged and practical learning opportunity. The course involves a human-centered design process through which students work on a community project throughout the semester. Students spend a significant amount of time observing, listening, analyzing, discussing, reflecting and engaging with their classmates as they design, develop and implement meaningful and innovative projects on sustainability.