The growing complexity of the relationship between limited natural resources and social and economic functioning, including the interdependence of the consumer society and areas of poverty in the Third World, bring completely new challenges to designers. Designing that takes into account the requirements of sustainable development is an ethical demand for contemporary designers. However, sustainable design is not possible without constantly adapting the education paradigm and redefining the profile of competences necessary to practice this profession.

What is sustainable development

Designing for sustainable development means taking into account the environmental, economic and social needs as well as a broad time perspective in the proposed solutions. The first definitions of sustainable development indicated that its essence is to strive to meet the needs of present generations in a way that will not pose a threat to the needs of future generations (WCED, 1987). Nowadays, the ecological dimension has been expanded to include the postulate of long-term balance between the resources of nature and society and the future needs of humanity (Emas, 2015). The interdependence of these three areas - economy, environment and society - is the basis for design for sustainable development.

Ceshin and Gaziulusoy (2016) distinguish four stages of development of sustainable design. First of all, products were designed whose production took into account ecological requirements. The second stage involved the design of product systems and related services. This meant a change in the consumption model, e.g. from purchasing to renting, limiting unnecessary production, and being environmentally and socially friendly. The last two, most advanced stages of design for sustainable development include spatial-social and technical-social innovations, i.e. the design of advanced, complex systems aimed at improving the functioning of entire communities, institutions and cities. The evolution of design for sustainable development also means working in large, interdisciplinary groups, taking into account a broad time perspective and with a much greater scope of responsibility.

Education of conscious designers

Concerns caused by the uncontrolled development of modern civilization have made education for sustainable development an important element of educating design students. The main goal of designers' activity should be the development of humanity in connection with the development of technology and industry, and not the other way around. The first design education programs relating to sustainable development were created in Poland in the 1960s at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. Andrzej Pawłowski, initiator of the creation of the Faculty of Industrial Design, presented an educational program emphasizing the role of designers in shaping the environment and quality of life. The specificity of the designer's profession, which is located on the border of art
and technology, assumed the creation of new values, adding social responsibility and an attitude towards continuous development and adaptation of the workshop to the current conditions of civilization development. Teaching technology and workshops was already important then, but in combination with developing attitudes based on the values ​​of social good.

When creating a new object, the designer should be aware that his work does not end with materializing a specific form, but with planning its place in a specific utility process. Pawłowski wrote: "Design is a field dealing with the relationship between a specific cause and the desired effect, it is a rational activity whose result is to be a specific effect." (Pawłowski, 2001, p. 21). The result is designed by the designer and the plan is implemented by society. Therefore, we can say that design is a social activity, which imposes moral responsibility on it.

In addition to awareness of the effects, the second important element is the ability to diagnose the real needs of society and precisely define the problem and design challenge. This involves meeting social needs, but wisely chosen ones, not those that have negative sources, e.g. consumerism or are related to the insufficient development of social awareness. In this light, the designer appears as a defender of the social interest, who bears great responsibility. In some situations - large markets, money, business - a designer acting in this spirit may seem like a Don Quixote doomed to failure. So what is the recipe for staying true to your values ​​and being effective in your actions? The process of educating designers undoubtedly plays a particularly important role here.

Education should be based on the parallel development of workshop skills, stimulating socially responsible attitudes, teaching a specific way of design thinking, focused on solving problems and not just producing "beautiful" objects. The working atmosphere, the topics covered, and teaching methods should therefore be aimed at increasing intellectual activity, developing and strengthening the desired personality traits of the student, such as nonconformity, inventiveness and creative activity, inquisitiveness and selflessness (cf. Pawłowski, 2001, p. 70).

The dynamics of the design profession requires constant updating of the program with new work methods and workshops. Therefore, it is important to create in future designers an orientation towards continuous development and openness to new phenomena, so that the graduate can best find his way in the changing reality, both in terms of the way of working and the challenges that await him. The designer often takes on the role of a coordinator and moderator of an interdisciplinary team that combines the work of various specialists into a coherent project and supervises its implementation. This makes it necessary to develop openness to different points of view and the ability to understand the conclusions put forward by other experts.

Pawłowski distinguishes two design specialties recognizable on the market: technical designer - a designer who carries out a specific task and problem solver - a designer who sets the goal in the design process himself, in accordance with social needs (Pawłowski, 2001, p. 168). In the face of the imbalance between technological development and its uncontrolled impact on the development of society, it can be said that the need for designers with a problem solver attitude is much greater.

The KSA educational model in developing responsibility
sustainable design

Designing in the spirit of sustainable development requires diverse knowledge, understanding of social, economic and economic processes, but above all, being guided by a specific set of values ​​which, by shaping the attitudes of designers, constitute a compass supporting the decisions made. The question arises: how to transform the issues described above into a coherent curriculum?

Its basis may be the KSA (Knowledge-Skills-Attitudes) model, which includes the so-called success triangle, based on the coexistence of: knowledge, skills and attitudes, which ultimately creates competence to carry out tasks. The competency model supports both educational planning and enables effective monitoring of the quality of education.

Knowledge is the scope of information that should be acquired so that the student is able to understand his or her tasks and solve them effectively. In the context of design for sustainable development, this covers a broad and interdisciplinary area of ​​knowledge regarding the ecological, economic and social challenges of the modern world. The resulting ability to recognize design opportunities for sustainable development and understand its specificity is also crucial. Working with case studies, contact with practitioners and in-depth discussions are a good starting point for increasing the level of students' knowledge by stimulating their critical thinking skills. Without understanding why sustainable development is a key condition for human development, it may be difficult to implement these solutions into practice. Sustainable development is also not possible without conscious design to change people's behavior. This means that design students need to expand their knowledge in the areas of sociology, psychology and behavioral economics.

Increasing students' knowledge is related to shaping specific attitudes. In the KSA model, attitudes refer to internalized normative beliefs that justify the application of knowledge and skills in practice. An important element of this process is defining values ​​that support sustainable development and their integration into teaching. This means an emphasis on working with ethical values ​​and the need to shape positive attitudes towards sustainable development in the education process. The educational process is only the beginning of shaping attitudes, further individual experiences of students, and then professionals, may strengthen or extinguish them.

Skills refer to the practical application of knowledge and the development of specific abilities in the training process. Necessary for sustainable design, they are related to knowledge about solutions and activities that integrate ecological, social and economic needs. This involves developing both skills specific to product or service design, as well as general skills supporting these processes. Examples of skills from the first group may include the basics of working with biodegradable and renewable materials, increasing knowledge about clean production processes, recycling and upcycling, and estimating both costs and environmental and social impact of a given project. At the same time, considering that the most advanced areas of design for sustainable development involve complex social systems, the skills of designing for behavior change are also important, including the ability to apply persuasive tactics in practice, shape user motivation, and understand fashion phenomena and trends. The general skills that can support effective design are broader and universal. An example is the skills defined by the British Design Council as part of the Design Academy program (2017), including: comprehensive problem solving, critical and creative thinking, emotional intelligence, competence in building and coordinating the work of design teams and awareness of the role of design.

The relationship between shaping the curriculum and the development of the design profession is very strong. It is based, on the one hand, on well-established ethical attitudes, and on the other hand, on empathy and openness to changes in the reality around us. Therefore, educators are faced with a constant need to redefine the design profession and its role in shaping contemporary society, thereby influencing its development.

Dr. Patrycja Rudnicka
Internet psychologist, assistant professor at the University of Silesia, also lectures at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice and at postgraduate studies in User Experience Design at SWPS University. His research deals with the broadly understood relationship between humans and technology, in particular the determinants of readiness towards technology, IT applications in psychology and design psychology. He cooperates with representatives of various fields - designers, engineers, IT specialists and teachers, working in accordance with the assumptions of Human-Centered Design and Value Sensitive Design

Dr. Marta Więckowska
Designer and research and teaching employee at the Department of Visual and Interaction Research at the Design Faculty of the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice. Specialist in the communication process, perception, visual research and usability research. Member of the Design Silesia team (2010-2013). In his design and scientific work, he emphasizes the role of research in the design process - as tools supporting design decision-making. He promotes this approach as an academic teacher and designer at speeches, conferences in Poland and abroad, and in ongoing projects.

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