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Design Education for Sustainability: Identifying Opportunities in Ireland’s Second Level Education System

Author

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  • Beineán Conway

    (School of Education, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland)

  • Keelin Leahy

    (School of Education, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland)

  • Muireann McMahon

    (School of Design, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland)

Abstract

Design Education for Sustainability has the potential to accelerate and encourage education that contributes to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. (1) Arguably the potential of Design Education for Sustainability remains underutilized in Ireland’s second level education system. (2) This article reports on findings conducted as part of a research project which examines Education for Sustainable Development in Irish secondary school Design Education subjects. The research draws on data gathered through critical ethnographic interviews with teachers in practice. (3) The findings explored in this article are the barriers faced by educators in relation to the further integration of Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland’s Design Education subjects. These findings offer a unique insight into the realities of educators in progressing towards Design Education for Sustainability. (4) In identifying the challenges, this article offers a starting point to tackle the barriers associated with integrating sustainability in Design Education within the Irish second level education system. (5) The article concludes by identifying how these barriers can be tackled head on in order to progressively integrate Education for Sustainable Development in Design Education subjects.

Suggested Citation

  • Beineán Conway & Keelin Leahy & Muireann McMahon, 2021. "Design Education for Sustainability: Identifying Opportunities in Ireland’s Second Level Education System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-15, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:8711-:d:608375
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peter Glavič, 2020. "Identifying Key Issues of Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-18, August.
    2. Garrath T. Wilson & Tracy Bhamra, 2020. "Design for Sustainability: The Need for a New Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-8, April.
    3. Mirjam Braßler & Martin Schultze, 2021. "Students’ Innovation in Education for Sustainable Development—A Longitudinal Study on Interdisciplinary vs. Monodisciplinary Learning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, January.
    4. Steven J. Lade & Will Steffen & Wim Vries & Stephen R. Carpenter & Jonathan F. Donges & Dieter Gerten & Holger Hoff & Tim Newbold & Katherine Richardson & Johan Rockström, 2020. "Human impacts on planetary boundaries amplified by Earth system interactions," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(2), pages 119-128, February.
    5. Evangelos Efthymiou & Öget N. Cöcen & Sergio R. Ermolli, 2010. "Sustainable Aluminium Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(9), pages 1-10, September.
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    1. Noor Hamwy & Jennifer Bruder & Abdellatif Sellami & Michael H. Romanowski, 2023. "Challenges to Teachers Implementing Sustainable Development Goals Frameworks in Qatar," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-19, July.

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