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Lecture

Design for Sustainability I: Observations to Insights

In course

HUM-397: Design for sustainability I

This course explores and practices some of the fundamental tools of designing for sustainability with a focus on the sustainability, desirability, and economic viability of solutions. ...

Description

This lecture introduces the concept of design ethnography and its application in the context of sustainability. It covers topics such as observational research, unstructured interviews, and the transition from observations to insights. Students learn how to map spaces, conduct fieldwork, and extract insights to inform sustainable design interventions.

Instructor

Marc Laperrouza

Marc is a scientist and lecturer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and at the University of Lausanne (HEC). Marc obtained his PhD on China's telecommunication reforms from the London School of Economics. He holds a Master Degree in International Management (HEC, 1997) and an undergraduate degree in Business Management from the University of Lausanne (1993). He studied Chinese Language and Economics for two years at Fudan University, Shanghai (1993-1995) and one semester at the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Canada (1996). Marc was previously senior research associate at EPFL working on the coherence between institutional and technological governance in infrastructures (2007-2011). In a former life, he worked as a research analyst at Swiss Re and at McKinseys Business Technology Office. He served as deputy director and senior advisor to the Evian Group, a think tank based at IMD (Lausanne, Switzerland) and lectures regularly on China and emerging markets at undergraduate, graduate and executive levels. Marc contributes frequently to Swiss media. He is the Founder and President of the bonopro association and recipient of the Swiss Re Civilian Service Prize (2011).

Official source

Related concepts (29)

Ethnography

Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining the behavior of the participants in a given social situation and understanding the group members' own interpretation of such behavior.

Sustainable development

Sustainable development is an organizing principle that aims to meet human development goals while also enabling natural systems to provide necessary natural resources and ecosystem services to humans. The desired result is a society where living conditions and resources meet human needs without undermining the planetary integrity and stability of the natural system. Sustainable development tries to find a balance between economic development, environmental protection, and social well-being.

Sustainability

Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long time. Specific definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Experts often describe sustainability as having three dimensions (or pillars): environmental, economic, and social, and many publications emphasize the environmental dimension. In everyday use, sustainability often focuses on countering major environmental problems, including climate change, loss of biodiversity, loss of ecosystem services, land degradation, and air and water pollution.

Sustainable design

Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability and also aimed at improving the health and comfort of occupants in a building. Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, the health and well-being of building occupants, thereby improving building performance.

Field research

Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct field research may simply observe animals interacting with their environments, whereas social scientists conducting field research may interview or observe people in their natural environments to learn their languages, folklore, and social structures.

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