World University of Design powers the drive towards a Sustainable Future

Sonepat: World University of Design conducted a Design Thinking and Service Design Workshop – sort of a mini Global Goals Jam – today on World Industrial Design Day. The workshop was attended by educators from different schools and colleges in and around Sonepat, Haryana who were trained in the nuances of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by UNDP and how they are applied towards development and sustainability.

In this one day virtual workshop spearheaded by Dr. Sanmitra Chitte – Dean of School of Management – principals and teachers of the participating schools were trained in the methodology of Design Thinking that leads towards Design Strategy. It emphasized on how Design Thinking could help them achieve one of the specific SDGs set aside by UNDP, focusing on the dire need to “Reduce the load of solid waste in and around the area we live in”. The participants were awarded certificates for their zeal and passion towards the idea of a sustainable future.

From a list of 17 goals (that must be fulfilled by 2030) advised for a better world, the University has chosen to participate in goals 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and 12 (responsible consumption and production) that are interdependent. As the chief mentor of the university, Dean, Dr. Sanmitra Chitte says, “The workshop is in line with curriculum that is taught at WUD’s School of Management, where we ensure that students are enabled to understand management from a different perspective and that they are all the time involved in innovative thinking ability. The students from school of Management are capable of generating strategies with the help of design thinking and are able to work on service design and also systems with Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, data indexing etc”

Design Thinking is the backbone of this workshop addressing the Sustainable Development Goal of Regenerative Cities; it is an indispensible subject that will be addressed under the NEP for curriculum at senior secondary school level. By holding this workshop attempt has been made to train and equip teachers who can in turn share inputs on problem solving with school students. The sole intent of the workshop was to enlighten them about the very concept of the term Design and its use across industries as a problem solving component; its reverence as the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (Vice Chancellor, World University of Design), says, “We are standing at the cusp of a large change, a major disruption. It is our duty to train our next generation in thinking innovatively to manage technology while making the planet more sustainable.”