Dott07 Investigation

Dott 07 (Designs of the Times 2007) is a joint initiative of the Design Council UK and ONE North East (Regional Development Corporation). Dott 07 focused on regional engagement in the North East region of England (centred around Newcastle-on-Tyne) and used the design process as a tool to develop sustainable solutions to local issues.

Dott 07's Eco Design Challenge asked Year 8 students across North East England two questions: ‘How big is your school‘s ecological footprint?' and ‘What design steps would make it smaller?' The project, which was designed to tie in with the UK National Curriculum, encouraged Year 8 students to channel their creativity into redesigning an element of their school, with the objective of reducing their ecological and carbon footprint.

The Eco Design Challenge happens in four phases:

1. Students are engaged in school based lessons to understand various aspects of sustainability.
2. Students identify problem areas in their school by doing an ecological and carbon footprint of their school
3. The data is used to determine what problem area in the school could be redesigned - the eco calculator provides a visual representation of their school‘s problem areas
4. Students work with a professional designer to prepare a design brief and submit it to a panel of experts

The Dusseldorp Skills Forum visited the UK in early 2008 to investigate the Dott 07 – in particular the Eco Design Challenge - its successes, challenges and to look at its transferability to Australia. They met with a number of stakeholders including:

• Design Council UK
• Dott07 Producers
• Schools - teachers and students
• Architects and Designers who worked with the schools
• Other Dott project participants

The Eco Design Challenge is a unique design-driven experience and participants couldn‘t speak more highly of it. The most important elements of the program are:

• It takes students through the design process
• It encourages innovative thinking to create sustainable solutions
• Students learn to think through problems differently
• The competition element is a huge driver – as was the prospect of prizes
• It offers a real-life application of ideas
• Partnering with Designers brought a professional perspective to the project

Student feedback:

• Opened their eyes to a career/future in design
• Encouraged them to consider sustainability in their lives
• Provided a real-life experience beyond the traditional classroom learning
• Offered the opportunity to work closely with professionals eg architects and designers
• The festival gave public acknowledgement of the work schools were doing towards sustainability and an opportunity to share their learning with other schools
• The festival also gave a small number of students a fantastic opportunity to be part of a professional production – ‘just like the Oscars‘!
• Being part of Dott has changed the way the students think.

Teacher Feedback:

• Surprised how little students knew about climate change issues
• A huge commitment – didn‘t realise this at the start – but most would do it again
• In schools where the project was shared across subject areas, the challenge was easier to manage
• Teachers were champions of the project but the students were the drivers
• The design process had a real impact on their thinking and teaching
• The competition element was fun and exciting
• Schools keen to connect to Australian schools that might participate in a design challenge.

The Dusseldorp Skills Forum is currently meeting with key stakeholders with the aim of applying lessons learned from the UK to Australia. Stay tuned for updates on our progress!