Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Teaching Sustainability Through an Innovative Upcycling Design Project

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Abstract

As educators, developing and providing a course that empowers students to be individuals whose knowledge, skills, and values promote sustainable ideas and behavior – and contribute to the local and global community – should be a priority assignment and have significant meaning.  This was designed as the final project in a required undergraduate course for the Apparel Design (APD) concentration. The main purpose of the project was to upcycle an old, shabby, useless material/product that students had but no longer used. This project focused on providing hands-on experience and enhancing students’ problem-solving and design skills. It immersed students in the concept of sustainability and encouraged them to think about things they had but were not using, and how these could be brought back to life to make innovative, useful products. In the process of transforming old items, students also transformed their ways of looking at things.

Keywords: Storytelling, Sustainable Design, Upcycling, Education

How to Cite:

Bang, H., (2020) “Teaching Sustainability Through an Innovative Upcycling Design Project”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 77(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.11981