Enjoy our FREE Earth Week Activities [day 3]

Alumni in Action

Apr 24, 2020

Alumni in Action

Apr 24, 2020

Happy Earth Week!

To help you celebrate, MCAD’s fully online MA in Sustainable Design program is posting 3 days of FREE Earth Day activities to help you engage. We’ll follow the themes SEE, DO, THINK, SHARE. Enjoy!

SEE: Explore thesis project presentations created by MA in Sustainable Design students

The MA in Sustainable Design program culminates in a student-driven Graduate Sustainability Thesis Project. Students conduct independent research on a sustainability-focused project of their choice, with the support of their thesis committee.

>> MA in Sustainable Design Thesis Project Presentations

DO: Learn about Regenerative Systems

Join Curt McNamara on Friday April 24th at noon CDT to explore the ideas of regenerative design, and the use of this simple tool to generate strategies. Send e-mail to cmcnamara at mcad.edu for login information. 

How might we emphasize a focus on seeking a simpler, balanced life that is rich with connections to people, community, and environment? One tool for enabling this shift is using the Regenerative Systems view. In this mini-course, you will have a chance to explore and experiment with Regenerative Systems and how they can be used for Delivering the Good Life. An exercise at the end of the course allows you to create and leverage your own systems map.

>> [mini-course] Introduction to Regenerative Systems

THINK: Are your Designs Beautiful?

Designers become sustainable designers when they know — in their heads and in their hearts — that their designs reflect and reinforce empathy rather than exploitation. They know that their designs are beautiful.

>> [read] Are your Designs Beautiful?

Denise DeLuca / Former Director

Denise DeLuca is the Director of MCAD’s Sustainable Design program. She was co-founder of BCI: Biomimicry Creative for Innovation, a network of creative professional change agents driving ecological thinking for radical transformation. Denise is author of the book Re-Aligning with Nature: Ecological Thinking for Radical Transformation, which was illustrated by MASD alum Stephanie Koehler. She also teaches with the Amani Institute.

Denise’s previous roles include Education Director for the International Living Future Institute, Project Manager for Swedish Biomimetics 3000, and Outreach Director for The Biomimicry Institute. Denise is a licensed civil engineer (PE) and holds a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering with a focus on modeling landscape-scale surface and groundwater interactions.  In addition, Denise is a Biomimicry Fellow and a member of the Advisory Council of The Biomimicry Institute,  Board Member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP), on the editorial board of the Journal of Bionic Engineering, and an Expert with Katerva. Denise is based in Oregon.

contact:  [email protected]