Strategies for Developing Sustainable Design Practice for Students and SME Professionals

Designers and engineers seem finally to be awakening to the challenge that sustainable development has given. Educators and students alike are keenly aware of the need to become more effective in the training and practice of their specific disciplines with respect to sustainability. \noindent In the past four years since this research has developed, there has been a marked change in the mass market appeal for sustainable products and services. Implementation of sustainable design practice from both recent graduates and also innovative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at a local level is slow. One would assume that the consumer drive would push a change in design practice but perhaps the complexities of sustainable design along with the lack of experience in the field are providing barriers to designers and marketers alike. In addition the SME sector alone makes up the bulk of industry within the European Union (EU) varying in some countries from 80-95% of the total numbers of companies (Tukker et al. 2000). These industries by their nature find it difficult to dedicate expertise solely to sustainable development issues. The strategy outlined in this paper intended to introduce concepts of sustainable design thinking and practice to both SMEs and undergraduate students. \noindent This current and ongoing research qualitatively assesses appropriate models for educating for sustainable design thinking with SME employees and undergraduate design students. The sample groups include Industrial Design and Product Design undergraduate students in Ireland at the Institute of Technology, Carlow (IT Carlow), The University of Limerick (UL) and a sample of SMEs in the South East of Ireland, with broad national participation from other students of design and professionals from industry. Current levels of understanding of students and SME professionals of key environmental and social issues are measured

Stabilizing Group Treatment for Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Related to Child Abuse Based on Psychoeducation and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Evidence-based treatments for complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to childhood abuse are scarce. This is the first randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of psycho-educational and cognitive behavioural stabilizing group treatment in terms of both PTSD and complex PTSD symptom severity. Methods: Seventy-one patients with complex PTSD and severe comorbidity (e.g. 74% axis II comorbidity) were randomly assigned to either a 20-week group treatment in addition to treatment as usual or to treatment as usual only. Primary outcome measures were the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS) for PTSD and the Structured Interview for Disorders of Extreme Stress (SIDES) for complex PTSD symptoms. Statistical analysis was conducted in the intention-to-treat (ITT) and in the completer sample. Subjects were considered responders when scoring at 20 weeks at least 1 standard deviation below pretest findings. Results: The 16% attrition was relatively low. After 20 weeks, the experimental condition (large effect sizes) and control condition (medium effect sizes) both showed significant decreases on the DTS and SIDES, but differences between the conditions were not significant. The secondary responder analysis (ITT) revealed significantly more responders on the DTS (45 vs. 21%), but not on the SIDES (61 vs. 42%). Conclusions: Adding psycho-educational and cognitive behavioural stabilizing group treatment for complex PTSD related to child abuse to treatment as usual showed an equivocal outcome. Patients in both conditions improved substantially during stabilizing treatment, and while significant superiority on change scores was absent, responder analysis suggested clinical meaningfulness of adding group treatment. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG