Marit Næss: Teaching “Ecodesign, material science and environment” at EST
Assistant professor
Faculty of Art, Design and Drama, Oslo University College
In 1987 the Brundtland report ”Our common future” defined sustainability as“a development that satisfy the needs of today without jeopardising the needs for future generations.”
The report was to be used in Agenda 21 – the global agenda for the 21st century. The concept has been ratified in other international programs such as UN, and also in policies of many nations, resulting in environmental legislations and regulations.The consumer awareness is also increasing.
The textile industry has been facing public and regulatory pressures and has been forced to act. The industry has started to “clean up” the textile processes. Most of the attention is focused on the impacts associated with growing or manufacturing fibre and with dying and finishing processes. Some companies have aimed at ecolabel-sertification for individual products, others have aimed at certification within environmental management systems, like EMAS or ISO 14001.
The fashion industry has had a different approach, as the designers have focused on the artistic image and personal style, for instance Eco-look, seemingly not understanding the manufacturing processes and the environmental impacts caused by the design decisions. The Eco-products have found only a small market niche of “environmentalists”.
The need is to make the whole textile sector sustainable, and to manufacture attractive sustainable products which appeal to the “the masses”.
In recognition of that “prevention is better than cure” the Art&Design-students at EST are adopting a proactive mentality where they are attempting to “design out” the environmental problems at early stages in the design process. Ecodesign is understood to be a systematic integration of environmental considerations into the design process. To understand the environmental impact of textiles we need to examine the whole life cycle from cradle to grave, which includes growing and processing the fibre, manufacturing the yarn, manufacturing the fabric, dyeing and finishing, cutting and making up into garments, maintaining the product during use and disposal or recycling.
The main obstacles of carrying out a Life Cycle Assessment(LCA) has been difficulties in getting hold of necessary data and information. Not to experience the approach too frustrating, the students have settled for Conceptual LCA – Life Cycle Thinking, and have adopted the GRIP guide and checklist, based on a limited and qualitative inventory, thus thrusting that it is sufficient with small steps at the time.
It is important for the designers to understand the vital role they play in shaping our future, and to use their ability and skill to move design into a more sustainable future.