Undergraduate | Minor

Ecological Design Practice

Artist wearing glasses and headphones paints on a wall covered in colorful push pins arranged in patterns, part of an installation.
Undergraduate | Minor

Ecological Design Practice

Get a Minor

Create solutions that respect and restore the natural world.

Design isn’t neutral. This minor equips you to build sustainable systems, challenge extractive thinking and create with care for people, land and the future.

For Bachelor of Design students only, this minor offers an experimental space to re-situate design within ecological limits. Rethink materials and systems; build skills to create work that restores rather than depletes the world around us.

Open booklet with bold blue pages showing “4 Principles of Waste Sorting.” Four illustrated steps are displayed with icons of plastic bottles: 1. Empty, 2. Clean, 3. Separate, 4. Sort. Surrounding booklets in Korean and English also reference recycling and plastic sorting.

What You’ll Learn

Students explore sustainable design through systems thinking, circular economies and regenerative practices. Coursework integrates ecological principles with creative problem-solving, emphasizing non-extractive methods and community collaboration. By mapping environmental systems, students learn to design products, spaces and services that respect and restore nature.

This minor fosters critical ecological awareness, equipping students with the skills to advocate for sustainable futures in diverse industries. Graduates gain a strong foundation in ethical design, preparing them to innovate responsibly in the face of global challenges.

Program Highlights

  • Study sustainable design rooted in ecological principles
  • Develop strategies for circular economies and regenerative systems
  • Work with nature-aligned materials and non-extractive processes
  • Map environmental systems to inform sustainable solutions
  • Collaborate with peers on projects that restore ecosystems
  • Learn from faculty engaged in cutting-edge ecological research
  • Build a portfolio that integrates ethics, sustainability and creativity
  • Prepare for careers in green design, policy, and environmental advocacy
Art installation in a gallery featuring two large white wall panels covered in bold black text and handwritten notes about sustainability, clothing, and consumer habits. Smaller artworks with hanging garments are displayed on the left, with a black pedestal in the foreground showing samples and text.
Close-up of multiple small monochrome prints of birds on textured paper, arranged in a collage on a brown surface. Some prints are framed with bright yellow borders, creating contrast with the black-and-white bird illustrations.
Open magazine spread with a dark blue background on the left page showing a pair of black jeans and the text “Blue Jeans: A Denim Manufacturing Chain.” The right page has graphics of water bottles, text about the environmental impact of denim, and a note that manufacturing jeans can use 30–63 liters of water.
Detail of a woven textile in turquoise and blue with yellow threads, showing texture and interlaced fibers up close.
Two people stand in front of a wall installation with coloured pins and strings arranged in arcs labeled by seasons, discussing the artwork.
Gallery view showing textiles, garments, and accessories displayed on walls and shelves around a central enclosed studio space.
Several students work in a studio space with fabrics, tools, and sewing equipment, examining and handling textile materials.

In Others’ Words

“It’s not only about having a technical vision. It’s about breaking it down into small practical steps. You could have dreams, but if you can’t apply them then they’re just hallucinations. If you can apply them, then you’re now a part of a creative society, because you’ve actually built something.”

Amir Tamadon, BMA, 3D Computer Animation Major

Next: Program Structure

How to Apply Tuition + Support Take a Tour