Tag Archives: Sustainability

Just Add Water

The following post was written by 5th Term Transportation Design student Tom Harezlak for the Designmatters blog.

Who needs an alarm clock when you can wake to the sound of a choir of monks?

NikolausKloster, a 600 year-old monastery in Germany, has an atmosphere that I would describe as a charming castle mixed with frat house. This special place was home to me and 23 others for a week as we learned about key issues of sustainability and attempted to tackle some of them. This was the second Sustainable Summer School, and I was grateful to be sponsored as attendee by Designmatters, the social impact design department at my school, Art Center College of Design.

“Summer” is a loose term, however, because September in Duesseldorf can get quite cold as I discovered. The warmth of my company was tremendous; a point that illustrated the value of bio-diversity. Our culturally diverse group hailed from nine different countries and this added richness to the experience. All the workshop participants were either design students or practicing designers, but we were in the company of a philosopher, sociologist, artists, a CEO and ecological researchers. The program was born out of collaboration between faculty from the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy and Ecosign, an ecologically focused design academy.

For the week we stayed in this sanctuary with little internet and poor cell reception; it was great. The brothers of the order made our food and much of it was grown on site. We left the countryside for one day to visit Cologne and hear expert speakers at Ecosign.

Biologists and a sociologist presented two points of view on swarms and swarm intelligence. Their research was fascinating and their debate heated. Experiments illustrated the dynamic probability of humans to behave like a swarm. All this while psychological factors would indicate that this behavior would never be predictable when applied to humans.

Another point communicated was that a group may be able to solve a problem that no one individual in the group is able to. Then it was up to our teams of designers to present the relevance we believed it had to design. Throughout the week I was elected to present as a native English speaker and because I was “the easiest to understand,” though there was a proper Brit on call. I suppose I have Hollywood to thank for that.

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The Summit is Here!

It’s not too late to attend the fourth Art Center Summit, Projects and Partnerships in Sustainable Design. This year’s event will highlight our association with the Opportunity Green Business Conference at L.A. Center Studios, today through Friday.

Tomorrow will feature breakout sessions Beyond the Peanut: Using Life Cycle Assessment to Develop Goals and Strategies and Creative Strategies: Sustainability by Design and the main stage presentation, Product Design in the Sustainable Era, will be held tomorrow afternoon. There will also be an exhibit of student work, featuring art and design addressing environmental, social and economic sustainability, on view throughout the conference.

Learn more at the Summit website. See you there!

Register Today for the Art Center Summit

It’s almost here: The fourth Art Center Summit, Projects and Partnerships in Sustainable Design, will be held September 22 through 24. This year’s event will highlight our association with the Opportunity Green Business Conference at L.A. Center Studios.

Even better news: Previous Art Center Summit participants and attendees, as well as Art Center alumni, students  and friends, are eligible for special discounted rates.

Don’t delay — learn more about this year’s event, and register today.

Art Center Summit 2010: September 22-24

We are pleased to announce that the fourth Art Center Summit will be held in September. Projects and Partnerships in Sustainable Design will highlight our association with the Opportunity Green Business Conference, taking place September 22 through 24 at L.A. Center Studios. The conference, developed alongside Art Center’s Sustainability Summits, seeks to innovate, collaborate and inspire industry leaders and the next generation of thought leadership, helping to develop and implement sustainable business solutions.

In 2007, Art Center successfully launched and hosted a series of annual Summits, bringing international leaders and experts in topics related to sustainability and mobility to the College. Envisioned as a five-year program, the first three Summits took a critical look at environmental, social and economic issues surrounding sustainability supporting the College’s desire to integrate sustainability into its curriculum. In this fourth year, we are taking components of the Summit to Opportunity Green to share with a broader audience how we are integrating the lessons learned so far.

Learn more at the Summit website.

The Art Center Summit 2010: Projects and Partnerships in Sustainable Design

The theme of this year’s Summit, Projects and Partnerships in Sustainable Design, will highlight Art Center’s association with the Opportunity Green Business Conference, taking place September 22—24 at L.A. Center Studios. The conference, developed alongside Art Center’s Sustainability Summits, seeks to innovate, collaborate and inspire industry leaders and the next generation of thought leaders, and to develop and implement sustainable business solutions.

In 2007, Art Center successfully launched and hosted a series of annual Summits bringing international leaders and experts in topics related to sustainability and mobility to the College.

Envisioned as a five-year program, three Summits have taken a critical look at environmental, social and economic issues surrounding sustainability, and supported the College’s desire to integrate sustainability into the curriculum.

We’ll bring you more information about the Summit soon; for more on Opportunity Green, including the schedule of events and speaker line-up, visit opportunitygreen.com. For more information about the Art Center Summit series, email artcentersummit@artcenter.edu.

Art Center Joins Designers Accord

We are pleased to announce that Art Center has joined the Designers Accord, a global coalition of designers, educators and business leaders working together to create positive environmental and social impact.

very green and wallSustainability is a subject of great concern at Art Center, and we recognize that design has a responsibility to address its many challenges and opportunities. The College believes that design, with its ability to see the big picture and integrate multiple interests, is uniquely capable of creating sustainable systems and solutions.

Over the past five years, Art Center has been introducing a comprehensive design approach recognizing environmental, social and economic interests. Through new courses, research in design process and lifecycle methodology, and active partnerships with other colleges, communities and organizations, this College-wide initiative is slowly transforming how design is taught.

At the same time, Art Center is in the often difficult stage of integrating teaching with doing. Progress with re-making the campus is slow, but steady. Support for sustainable practices comes from all parts of the college community, though students remain the strongest advocates.

Through participation in the designers accord, Art Center hopes to learn from others and share what we know. We want to keep improving in all aspects of what we do. We also hope to inspire and mobilize the ingenuity of our students and faculty towards creating solutions that support human and natural systems, over the long term.

Art Center Receives Outstanding Recycler Award

Art Center was one of five recipients awarded the 2009 Outstanding Recycler Award by the City of Pasadena. The award was presented by Mayor Bill Bogard and Director of Public Works Martin Pastucha at Monday’s City Council Meeting. Art Center was recognized for “outstanding environmental stewardship and commitment to reducing waste and preserving natural resources.”

The award is due in large part to the ongoing efforts of EcoCouncil, a student led group that promotes awareness of and designs solutions related to issues of sustainability across campus. EcoCouncil is supported by Heidrun Mumper-Drumm, Director, Sustainability Initiatives; and Linda Estrada, Manager of Transportation and Sustainability, who work closely with EcoCouncil to help them achieve their goals.

Four other organizations were announced as Outstanding Recyclers with Art Center receiving the Overall Recycler of the Year for 2009. Congratulations also go to Sequoyah School, Saint Philip the Apostle School, Waste Less Living and Interior Removal Specialists, Inc.

The Pasadena Star-News has a nice write-up: Pasadena’s top recyclers recognized