Part of our Profiled Universities
Institution: Inscape Education Group
Location: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Stellenbosch campuses, South Africa & Dubai campus, United Arab Emirates
Focus Area: Inscape is in the initial phase of repositioning its brand to incorporate a shift in emphasis to align the contextual coherence of its design programmes to address circular design as well as local focuses to achieve positive impact (across social, environmental and economic conditions).
Key Projects:
The Circular EconomyCircular EconomyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. is introduced to BA Honours in Design students in the Service Design curriculum. Students may adopt the concept and use it to inform their approach to their final design research and project in a range of design specialisations.
There are a number of undergraduate projects that Inscape students complete that include aspects of Circular Design. Examples include:
Second Skin project requires students to repurpose building materials to create wearable or conceptual fashion products.
Project81 is a design praxis project supported by industry. Belgotex Flooring has partnered with Inscape for a number of years providing a context in which groups of students collaborate on designing solutions for waste and/or products produced by the flooring company Belgotex. Students consider recycling, re-use and repurposing of the materials. The project has run since 2015 and students apply design thinking to conceptualize products and systems that address the re-use and repurposing of factory waste as well as envisaging the future products and solutions that Belgotex could consider.
2021 sees the first year that over 500 undergraduate design and communication students will receive training in the Circular Economy and Circular Design and will be tasked with applying the approaches of MaintainMaintainKeep a product in its existing state of quality, functionally and/or cosmetically, to guard against failure or decline. It is a practice that retains the highest value of a product by extending its use period. and prolong, ReuseReuseThe repeated use of a product or component for its intended purpose without significant modification./RedistributeRedistributeDivert a product from its intended market to another customer so it is used at high value instead of becoming waste., RefurbishRefurbishReturn a product to good working order. This can include repairing or replacing components, updating specifications, and improving cosmetic appearance./RemanufactureRemanufactureRe-engineer products and components to as-new condition with the same, or improved, level of performance as a newly manufactured one. and RecycleRecycleTransform a product or component into its basic materials or substances and reprocessing them into new materials. to specific Belgotex Flooring products and waste material. The weeklong intensive, collaborative, virtual design project includes training on circular design as well as presentations from designers describing existing case studies of circular design in the African context.
Connect with:
Dr Sue Giloi, Chief Academic Officer (provost@inscape.co.za)
Find out more:
Inscape is the oldest multi-disciplinary creative institution to be established in South Africa since 1981.
