Seventeenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Current generations are faced with the responsibility of dealing with a global ecological problem capable of determining the future of human societies on our planet. Promoting sustainability means taking into account socio-ethical principles and a model of production and consumption that is economically feasible. Thus, the effective introduction in higher education of practical methods and tools, which can be used by final year students to develop more sustainable projects, is an increasingly important requirement. Most sustainable design studies are focused on the product level and are intended to quantify the sustainability of different alternatives or scenarios with an emphasis on the environmental dimension. In this work, a practical scheme for the development of sustainable design projects of both products and services is proposed. This method is composed of three main phases, makes use of practical indicators to evaluate the environmental, economic, and social impacts, and includes a redesign phase integrating initial specifications and sustainability strategies. Different sustainable design projects (products and services) were carried out as part of the Degree of Engineering of Industrial Design and Product Development at Zaragoza University. The development and results of the experience are revealed.