Towards an educational strategy for promoting social, environmental and ethical awareness in visual communication education

Abstract

Debates surrounding social and environmental concerns permeate contemporary life at many levels, highlighting important issues such as globalisation, consumerism, the changing environment and the exploitation of natural resources (Diamond 2005; Klein 2001; Kovel 2007). These issues are becoming increasingly significant within the field of visual communication and, as such, also within visual communication education. The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) has established a Centre for Sustainable Design to address the growing concern surrounding sustainable design within the industry (AIGA 2008). Social and environmental ethics can be linked to sustainability, an important, though perhaps overused term. Benson (2009:1), following the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), defines sustainability as follows:

Sustainability is a systemic term that means ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ It demands that society strives to reach a collective balance called the triple bottom line. This is the overlap where we intelligently mesh the economy, environment and equity for all our species.