Sustainability in action
Leaders of change for a greener world
Taking apart discarded tech objects to understand what they are made of, and redesigning them with basic electronics to give them a second life.
The opening question was concrete: what is the stuff we throw away made of? The course literally starts by taking things apart: game controllers that stopped working, opened with a screwdriver on the table until every component is visible and cataloged in a materials library.
From there the work turns into a project. Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the principles of the circular economy as a framework, each team chose an everyday object and redesigned it to reduce the waste it produces. Basic electronics was the tool that made those redesigns light up, move and actually work.
As a summer course, the pace is different: nine sessions in a row, Monday to Friday, which forces a much more compressed project rhythm than a semester.
Original course
Proposal, syllabus, methodology and materials designed by me for the PENTA UC Summer Academic Season.
Syllabus
- 01Waste and everyday objectsRecognizing the problems of waste management and the sustainability of manufactured objects.
- 02Key conceptsCircular economy, Sustainable Development Goals and consumer society.
- 03Take it apart to understand itTaking apart tech objects and building a materials library with the components.
- 04Define the problemChoosing the object to redesign and defining the user.
- 05PrototypeBasic electronics applied to redesigning the chosen object.
- 06Progress presentationFirst versions in front of the class.
- 07CorrectionsAdjustments based on peer feedback.
- 08Final assessmentExhibiting the redesigned objects to a specific audience.
- 09Wrap-upFeedback and reflection on the whole process.
Gallery
