Abstract
Many UK fashion courses perpetuate the romantic notion of the individuated designer producing unique objects of wonder (Wood in Designers visionaries and other stories: a collection of sustainable design essays. Routledge, London, 2007; Clark in The Journal of Fashion Theory 12(4):427–446, 2008), encouraging and continuing a culture of production unfettered by the concerns of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Research shows, however, that there is a need for approaches within Design Education that promote and reward forms of creativity that are adaptive as well as innovative (Manzini in Designers visionaries and other stories: a collection of sustainable design essays. Routledge, London, 2007), and that this is an essential characteristic if curricula are to be developed for ESD. This paper reports on a Fashion Design undergraduate project that has been developed in light of institutional strategies for ESD and employability and for staff development in ESD. The project contributes to a wider, whole-institution approach taken by Manchester Metropolitan University as it takes part in the National Union of Students (NUS) Responsible Futures project. The paper explores the merits of implementing a cross-disciplinary approach that focuses on local environmental issues whilst remaining sensitive to globalisation. It analyses the resulting shifts in attitude of students towards sustainable design and adaptive creative practices. Finally, it discusses the impact that this approach might have on future curriculum design for Fashion Education.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Castells, M. (2012). Networks of outrage and hope: Social movements in the internet age. Cambridge: Polity. ISBN: 13:978-0-7456-6285-3(pb).
Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. (2014). MMU strategy for learning, teaching and assessment. [Online ] http://www.celt.mmu.ac.uk/ltastrategy/LTA_strategy.pdf. Accessed on May 15, 2015.
Clark, H. (2008). Slow fashion—An oxymoron—Or a promise of the future? The Journal of Fashion Theory, 12(4), 427–446.
Cook, R., & Cutting, R. (2014). ‘Low-impact communities’ and their value to experiential Education for Sustainability in higher education. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning (Special Issue: Space, Place and Sustainability and the Role of Outdoor Education), 14(3), 247–260 [online], June 20, 2015.
Curtis, F. (2003). Analysis. Eco-localism and sustainability. Ecological Economics, 46(1), 83–102 [online]. Accessed July 19, 2015.
Ellen Macarthur Foundation. (2015). http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org [Online]. Accessed July 20, 2015.
Fletcher, K. (2007). Clothes that connect. In J. Chapman (Ed.), Designers visionaries and other stories: A collection of sustainable design essays. London: Routledge. ISBN-13: 978-1-84407-412-9.
Fletcher, K., & Grose, L. (2012). Fashion & sustainability: Design for change. London: Laurence King Publishing. ISBN-978 185609 754 5.
Fuad-Luke, A. (2007). Re-defining the purpose of (sustainable) design: Enter the design enablers, catalysts in co design. In J. Chapman (Ed.), Designers visionaries and other stories: A collection of sustainable design essays. London: Routledge. ISBN-13: 978-1-84407-412-9.
James, A. R. (2013). Lego serious play: A three-dimensional approach to learning development. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (6). http://www.aldinhe.ac.uk/ojs/index.php?journal=jldhe&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=208 [Online]. Accessed on May 15, 2015.
Manchester Metropolitan University. (2014). MMU environmental sustainability strategy 2014–2020. http://issuu.com/mmuenvironment/docs/final_mmu_ess_issuu [Online]. Accessed on May 15, 2015.
Manzini, E. (2007). The scenario of a multi-local society: Creative communities, active networks and enabling solutions. In J. Chapman (Ed.), Designers visionaries and other stories: A collection of sustainable design essays. London: Routledge. ISBN-13: 978-1-84407-412-9.
McCusker, S. (2014). Serious play: Thinking about teaching and learning. International Journal of Knowledge, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2(1), 27–37. Available http://www.ijkie.org/IJKIE_August2014_SEAN%20MCCUSKERv3.pdf, June 01, 2015.
McLaren, P. (1995). Critical pedagogy and predatory culture: Oppositional politics in a postmodern era. London: Routledge.
People and Planet. (2013). People & planet green league 2013 Tables. http://peopleandplanet.org/green-league-2013/tables [Online]. Accessed on May 26, 2015.
Runco, M. A. (2004). Creativity. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 657–687.
Sherman, J., & Burns, H. (2015). Radically different learning: Implementing sustainability pedagogy in a university peer mentor program. Teaching in Higher Education, 20(3), 231–243 [online]. doi:10.1080/13562517.2014.993962. Accessed July 05, 2015.
Sudjic, D. (2008). The language of things: How we are seduced by the objects around us. London: Penguin.
Tennant, M. (1997). Psychology and adult learning. London: Routledge.
The LEGO Group. (2010). Open-source introduction to LEGO(R) serious play(R). http://seriousplaypro.com/docs/LSP_Open_Source_Brochure.pdf [Online]. Accessed on May 15, 2015.
Von Busch, O. (2008). Sustainable: Hacktivism and engaged fashion design. Dissertation in design. http://www.konst.gu.se/english/ArtMonitor/dissertations/otto_von_busch/ [Online]. Accessed on May 24, 2015.
Winter, J., & Cotton, D. (2012). Making the hidden curriculum visible: Sustainability literacy in higher education. Environmental Education Research, 18(6), 783–796.
Wood, J. (2007). Relative abundance: Fuller’s discovery that the glass is always half full. In J. Chapman (Ed.), Designers visionaries and other stories: A collection of sustainable design essays. London: Routledge. ISBN-13:9781844074129.
WRAP. (2014). Experts in the circular economy and resource efficiency. http://www.wrap.org.uk/ [Online]. Accessed June 24, 2015.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Langdown, A., Hannan, E. (2016). From Individuation to Autonomy: Enabling Fashion Design Students to See a Bigger Picture. In: Leal Filho, W., Pace, P. (eds) Teaching Education for Sustainable Development at University Level. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32928-4_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32928-4_22
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-32926-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32928-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)