Karen Blincoe’s scientific contributions

Nowadays design is faced with the challenge to contribute to the transition towards a sustainable society. Design for Sustainability (DfS) is the response to this challenge. It includes but goes beyond what Design for the Environment or ecodesign provides, by integrating social, economic, environmental and institutional aspects and by offering opportunities to get involved, express one’s own identity beyond consuming standardised mass products.DEEDS, a Leonardo research project, had the mission to embed sustainability in design and design in sustainability. For this behalf, the project partners approached the issue from the angles of design, sustainability science and sustainable consumption analysis, developing tools and rules (the SCALES principles) to support DfS and to incorporate it into design education and practice.The paper describes the framework conditions as explored by sustainable consumption research, the obstacles identified by DEEDS and gives hints how to overcome them based in the lessons learnt in the course of the project.

The DEsign EDucation and Sustainability (DEEDS) project, funded by the European Union's Leonardo da Vinci Programme, comprises a partnership of five institutions from the European design and sustainable development communities that embraces higher education, research and practice. This paper outlines the background, evolution and outcomes from the project which currently include a set of core principles, Skills, Creating change agents, Awareness - systemic and context, Learning together, Ethical responsibilities and Synergy and co-creating (SCALES), diverse resources