Awareness workshop for Designers towards achieving sustainability

To bring about a positive change in the Society for long term, involvement of the youth & upcoming generation is very important. These are the future torch bearers and can contribute towards the betterment of people & planet in a revolutionary way, if guided along with their education years.

Designers can play a very important role in our society. And so, to address the Final year students of B. Des, SETU team visited Banasthali Vidyapeeth, a renowned educational University since 1935. The institute is known for its quality of education nationwide.

SETU founder Ms. Rashmi Dhariwal was invited by the design department of the establishment to share her thoughts and design experience with the Design students. It was an interactive session with the topic of the discussion being “The role of Designers in economic and social sustainability”.

The talk was about the importance of sustainability in product development and business. The session elaborated on the vital role that design plays right from creation of a product to the production process and up to the packaging and distribution of products. Ms. Rashmi spoke in great details about how a sustainable approach would benefit both the producers and consumers.

The students were made aware about the difference between a linear economy and a circular economy and were explained the benefits of circular economy concept. Emphasis was laid on the fact that as designers, the students should concentrate on ensuring that the products they create are sustainable and minimally harmful to the environment and society.
The talk also covered the sections of community development and promotion of handmade products. Other important topics that were discussed are
• The importance of handicrafts and livelihood generation among marginalized sections.
• The need for generating employment and value addition to the lower sections of the economic strata.
• Fair Trade & ethical principles.
It was a successful exchange of ideas, thought processes and a healthy discussion where the students participated enthusiastically.