Sustainability Integrating in Industrial Design Education - A Case Study of Japanese Universities

The purpose of this study is to identify, describe, and discuss the characteristics of current Japanese universities that offer undergraduate and graduate course with sustainability and ecodesign modules. In order to do so, data was collected from Japanese universities are studied. According to the results, the number of ecodesign and sustainability modules that have been integrated formally into undergraduate and postgraduate level in Japanese universities is relatively low. The eight Japanese universities that offer industrial design courses with ecodesign and sustainability modules are characterized as optional modules with art/craft/design approaches, and the majority are found in private and prefectural universities.