Design for Sustainability: Addressing Food Waste Behaviour

This research explores current approaches and frameworks to enable design to contribute to sustainable behaviour. In particular, this research closely examined Shove’s Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience (3Cs) for its applicability in the design process, with a view to generating design interventions. In mid- to high-income countries, consumer behaviour is recognised as the major issue contributing to food waste. Sustainability approaches were applied to the context of food waste, in order to see how they could inform designing for this problem. First, a pilot observation was carried out to investigate whether Shove’s 3Cs approach could be applied to the food waste context. The results of the pilot observation suggested that the 3Cs could be a useful tool for uncovering everyday norms and habits governing food waste. A major observation was then carried out at a farmers’ market, using human centred design methods. The analysis of the observations led to frame a design brief: To improve the food waste stream at the farmers’ market through design interventions relating to take-away coffee practices. The design ideation and refinement process resulted in three design concepts, which sought to enable more sustainable behaviour by; a) removing barriers to sustainable behaviour with the 3Cs; b) emotionally durable re-use cups; and c) supporting the demand for the 3Cs. The evaluation of the design process identified that the 3Cs, used in conjunction with a social practice approach, revealed rich nuances in everyday practices with respect to food waste. These approaches were, therefore, found to be complementary to human centred design processes in framing the design problem and to forming the design brief. They were also found to be particularly useful in making sense of wicked problems. However, they were limited in their application during the design ideation phase, which reinforced the importance of conventional design ideation tools, such as sketching and prototyping. This thesis concludes that Shove’s 3Cs and social practice approach are useful tools when framing design problems. In addition, this research reinforced the importance of utilising various strategies, as required, when designing for sustainable behaviour. Further research in effective application of the sustainability approaches with reference to how they inform the design process would enrich the research in the area of design for sustainable behaviour

Design for Sustainability: Addressing Food Waste Behaviour

This research explores current approaches and frameworks to enable design to contribute to sustainable behaviour. In particular, this research closely examined Shove’s Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience (3Cs) for its applicability in the design process, with a view to generating design interventions. In mid- to high-income countries, consumer behaviour is recognised as the major issue contributing to food waste. Sustainability approaches were applied to the context of food waste, in order to see how they could inform designing for this problem. First, a pilot observation was carried out to investigate whether Shove’s 3Cs approach could be applied to the food waste context. The results of the pilot observation suggested that the 3Cs could be a useful tool for uncovering everyday norms and habits governing food waste. A major observation was then carried out at a farmers’ market, using human centred design methods. The analysis of the observations led to frame a design brief: To improve the food waste stream at the farmers’ market through design interventions relating to take-away coffee practices. The design ideation and refinement process resulted in three design concepts, which sought to enable more sustainable behaviour by; a) removing barriers to sustainable behaviour with the 3Cs; b) emotionally durable re-use cups; and c) supporting the demand for the 3Cs. The evaluation of the design process identified that the 3Cs, used in conjunction with a social practice approach, revealed rich nuances in everyday practices with respect to food waste. These approaches were, therefore, found to be complementary to human centred design processes in framing the design problem and to forming the design brief. They were also found to be particularly useful in making sense of wicked problems. However, they were limited in their application during the design ideation phase, which reinforced the importance of conventional design ideation tools, such as sketching and prototyping. This thesis concludes that Shove’s 3Cs and social practice approach are useful tools when framing design problems. In addition, this research reinforced the importance of utilising various strategies, as required, when designing for sustainable behaviour. Further research in effective application of the sustainability approaches with reference to how they inform the design process would enrich the research in the area of design for sustainable behaviour

Occupational Therapy and Product Design Students Learning Together: The Spectacle Story

This paper is a case study of a particular project (the Vision 20/20 project), which was developed by students on an interdisciplinary project. The goal of the project was to develop a child-to-child vision screening toolkit to integrate eye health into the school curriculum and make vision testing more accessible for children. An interdisciplinary research team was formed to support the students, and then continued to work together to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the project. The team used an action research approach and consisted of researchers and practitioners from three institutions: Otago Polytechnic, the University of Otago, and Tahuna Intermediate School (10-13 year olds). It was made of occupational therapists, optometrists, product designers, teachers and learners (at multiple levels). This case study exemplifies how problem-based learning can provide a context for students to do real work that makes a difference in the world. This goal of the Vision 20/20 project connects closely with the commitment underpinning the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which is to leave no one behind. The SDG for health (Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing) links with the World Health Organisation Global Action Plan on Universal Eye Health. There is considerable scope for this project to continue to develop in ways that will feed our long-term goal of ensuring that no child is left behind because of poor vision. Similarly this project illustrates how faculty members from different disciplines can work together to develop a learning environment that enriches student’s learning opportunities

International Collaboration for a Sustainable Future: Faculty and Student Reflections from a Virtual Polytechnic Classroom

This paper represents a concrete reflection on the first steps in a Collaborative Online International Learning journey through the Global Polytechnic Alliance participation in Map the System. The polytechnics are in Denmark (VIA), Canada (Humber College), and New Zealand (Otago Polytechnic). Students and faculty participated in the initiative to work together strategically, based on common interests, to strengthen the participating institutions academically and globally. Three international teams were developed to participate and enter into the Map the System global competition. The teams chose a social or environmental issue that mattered to them and researched connecting elements and factors to share findings in a way that people can meaningfully learn from. This competition, and the paper, is viewed as a discovery process. In this article, we describe three stages the team went through faculty team formation, teaching and learning as well as developing student research and system maps. Through this process, we discovered key insights on creating a sense of community online, systems thinking and reflective learning process. The paper concludes with our thoughts on the unintended gifts of collaborating internationally in virtual teams