Abstract
Participatory design with community engagement has demonstrated significant potential for addressing the complexities of environmental governance and fostering interconnected systems to accelerate the circular economy. This highlights the need for a paradigm shift in design education, transitioning from traditional human-centered methodologies to a broader humanity-centered approach. This paper examines insights gained by Industrial Design students at Virginia Tech through a collaboration with local stakeholders in Floyd aimed at promoting sustainability. The project focused on reducing wasteful behaviors associated with end-of-life products by developing design and service solutions to minimize landfill disposal through participatory design processes. Students proposed twenty-seven design concepts rooted in community engagement. Pre- and post-project surveys conducted with twenty-six students revealed that involving the community in the design process enhanced their understanding of root-cause problems and system approach and increased their motivation to create environmentally responsible design solutions for future design projects. This research underscores the importance of integrating community engagement into Industrial Design education, advancing a humanity-centered approach to address the growing challenges of product waste and sustainable practices. It provides academics and researchers with a valuable case study on embedding participatory, community-centered approaches into Industrial Design curricula.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2025.044
Citation
Choi, Y.J., Dong, J.,and Kennedy, B.(2025) Designing with Communities for Humanity-Centered Design: Advancing Sustainability Knowledge and Practices in Industrial Design Education, in Clemente, V., Gomes, G., Reis, M., Félix, S., Ala, S., Jones, D. (eds.), Learn X Design 2025, 22-24 September 2025, Aveiro, Portugal. https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2025.044
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Case Study
Designing with Communities for Humanity-Centered Design: Advancing Sustainability Knowledge and Practices in Industrial Design Education
Participatory design with community engagement has demonstrated significant potential for addressing the complexities of environmental governance and fostering interconnected systems to accelerate the circular economy. This highlights the need for a paradigm shift in design education, transitioning from traditional human-centered methodologies to a broader humanity-centered approach. This paper examines insights gained by Industrial Design students at Virginia Tech through a collaboration with local stakeholders in Floyd aimed at promoting sustainability. The project focused on reducing wasteful behaviors associated with end-of-life products by developing design and service solutions to minimize landfill disposal through participatory design processes. Students proposed twenty-seven design concepts rooted in community engagement. Pre- and post-project surveys conducted with twenty-six students revealed that involving the community in the design process enhanced their understanding of root-cause problems and system approach and increased their motivation to create environmentally responsible design solutions for future design projects. This research underscores the importance of integrating community engagement into Industrial Design education, advancing a humanity-centered approach to address the growing challenges of product waste and sustainable practices. It provides academics and researchers with a valuable case study on embedding participatory, community-centered approaches into Industrial Design curricula.