BA (Hons) Design for Sustainable Futures

While studying BA (Hons) Design for Sustainable Futures, you'll develop a specialist ability to use your creativity, ambition and imagination to propose innovative concepts that'll lead to positive changes in the future – changes that might be big or small but will make the future more sustainable.

After developing a way of thinking that'll help you to understand the importance of creative thinking to the design process, you'll explore aspects of sustainable and responsible design through a series of real-world, problem-based briefs. On graduation you'll be prepared to change the world with creativity, ambition and imagination.

We need your ideas; the world needs your ideas, big ideas, small ideas, better ideas, now more than ever before. Often the very best solutions to a problem are the simplest, the most straightforward and the easiest to put into action.

You'll be using your creativity, ambition, and imagination to propose innovative concepts that'll lead to positive changes in the future, changes that might be big or small but important changes that will make our future more sustainable.

All undergraduate courses at AUB offer an optional placement year, to be taken between your second and third years of study.

If you’re unsure about this optional placement, you don’t need to decide now. Once you’re here and studying with us, the course team will discuss the placement options with you, so when the time comes, you can make a decision that’s right for you.

At Level 4, you begin the course by considering how ideas are conceived and developed. You'll consider the conceptual blocks that can limit ideation, and how to overcome these. You'll learn to use ideas as ‘raw material’ to design with, working on a series of short creative briefs. Concepts and the nature of sustainability are considered and discussed to both confirm and challenge established design practices.

Units:

• Fundamental Ideas, Past, Present and Future
• Design Practice in Context
• Collaboration and Problem-solving

At Level 5, the second year of the course, you're encouraged to develop their ideas to become more practical, more meaningful, maybe more philosophical, while maintaining an open-minded, highly creative, way of thinking. While considering the “wicked” problems that the world faces today, we’ll encourage you to identify problems to address locally to understand the difficulty of change on a global scale; contrasting this with other briefs that challenge you to imagine fictional futures that have been changed by current attitudes and events.

You'll be encouraged to find their own design problems under the heading of a series of “Too Ambitious?” projects, which are intended to provide the opportunity to specialise, experiment and further develop personal own design languages, resulting in concepts that can be experimental as well as speculative.

Units:

• Design, Industry and Sustainability
• Creative Teams and Portfolios
• Sustainability Ambitions

At Level 6, the final year, project outcomes may be furniture, posters, time machines, anything… but the way that you reach these ideas is what will help you to become a creative problem-solver. You'll define your own design priorities as you begin to develop final year projects. A theme of the final year of study will be the development of your own opinions about sustainable design and how you'll embody these in your work.

Units:

• Design Context: A Passion for Sustainability
• Leading the Way: Professional Project Feasibility
• Sustainable Futures: Professional Project Realisation

During the academic year, at least one excursion to London or another UK cultural hub is planned as part of BA (Hons) Design for Sustainable Futures. As London is easily accessible from Bournemouth, you can easily plan excursions to the city's art galleries and museums to supplement their academic work. Professional progress as practitioners depends on primary research.

Trips give students confidence, promote independence and present opportunities for future professional and personal development.

Any additional fees are disclosed before the visit.

Visiting tutors play a pivotal role in the BA (Hons) Design for Sustainable Futures course, as they bring diverse perspectives and unique skill sets, enriching the learning experience and fostering a deeper understanding of the standards and expectations of the creative industries. Industry professionals provide invaluable insights into the creative industry, sharing their expertise and experiences. They conduct workshops, lectures, and participate in critiquing student work, offering constructive feedback from both an education and industry perspective. Their presence can also offer you the opportunity to network and learn about potential career paths, industry trends, and professional practices.