Using campus concerns about sustainability as an educational opportunity: a case study in architectural design

Curtin Environment Awareness Team (CEAT) is a group of volunteers at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia, who work together to promote awareness, activities and information dissemination related to sustainable use of the university campus. In 2003 an attempt was made to integrate a CEAT concern relating to a declining habitat for bird and animal life around a campus lake, with an undergraduate problem-based design project in the School of Architecture. After the students' work was completed, CEAT reviewed the projects and selected three schemes for possible inclusion in the program of capital works for the campus. CEAT members and students were surveyed after the design project was completed. The survey results indicated that CEAT members considered that student involvement enhanced the quality, scope and likely implementation of the project. The student survey results indicated that this project raised their awareness of the complexity of addressing sustainable use of the campus and identified the potential influence of architect designed projects on the natural environment. However, in spite of formal acknowledgement of the value of the project by the Vice Chancellor of the university, there was no indication that the university plans to move from the current ad hoc approach towards sustainability either in the management of the campus or in the core teaching programs.