PMEVSTRD - MA Environmental, Sustainable and Regeneration Design

MA Environmental, Sustainable and Regeneration Design is designed to enable graduates to explore the emerging fields of inquiry defined by contemporary and future concepts and practices of environmental and sustainable design and design for regeneration. Governments, agencies, companies, neighbourhood communities and individuals around the world are realising that instead of being a cost and burden, in fact design that recognises the need to work collaboratively and to a common goal with communities and the environments in which they live is not only essential to the survival of our civilisations, but an opportunity for designers and businesses to exercise their imagination and skill while making a living. Most local authorities and large design practices in the UK will have staff identified by one or more of these specialisms, and it is a rapidly growing field of attention around the world, including in newly developed countries such as China and India and in Southern America, where the adverse consequences of rapid development and industrialisation are becoming apparent.

Most local authorities and large design practices in the UK will have staff identified by one or more of these specialisms (environmental and sustainable design, and regeneration) and they are rapidly growing fields of attention around the world, including in newly developed countries such as China and India and in Southern America, where the adverse consequences of rapid development and industrialisation are becoming apparent.

The field is diverse and hybrid, allowing those with a wide range of interests and abilities to contribute. These designers may design environments or systems, products or behaviours – but all of them will contribute to the safety, wellbeing and sustainabilityof the world. The course proposes to investigate and interrogate living systems through holistic and integrated strategies, deploying knowledge and practice from a range of disciplines including social sciences, product, interior, environmental, urban and community-based design. The course’s core principles respect and respond to humanity and its ecosystems, its sociological considerations, health and wellbeing and its community and neighbourhood cultures and practices.

The course team and its industry connections will enable students to have first-hand experience of the challenges that environmental, sustainability and regeneration designers face, while embedded in the vibrant world of London’s creative sectors and businesses. The course will engage in live projects for real-world clients to ensure that the understanding of the sector, and how students’ interests and talents match the opportunities available, is accurate and up to date.

There is an emphasis upon situating the student in a real, complex and ambiguous context for project work, with parameters that cover social, political and economic contexts as well as the physical context. The modules expand and deepen knowledge of a chosen area of cultural context or professional expertise particular to the student. The programme is designed to set out the breadth of the field and help students to secure a sufficient depth of understanding to ground their own work.

The main vehicles for the design modules are ‘projects’, the remit of which change annually. The design modules are therefore written generically to allow flexibility in the yearly setting and development of projects. The course is structured to accommodate substantial design process and development, appropriate to this level of study, while carefully guiding students through the early stages of independent postgraduate study with a blend of taught content and opportunities to test this in practice. The different design modules emphasise particular skills and outcomes, but broadly share similar requirements and work in parallel.

The design modules and projects are delivered within a design studio unit that set a theme for the design work over the academic year, in order to create a collaborative working model. The studio runs projects, which offer the student a choice of a range of research interests, sites, building types, cultural and theoretical contexts. The studio is led by an experienced practitioner tutor who sets a specific agenda. Cass Design shares a commitment to contemporary design and its global and local contexts, a passion for socially beneficial design, and a desire to test the premises of design thinking, theoretically as well as practically.

Students completing the MA undertake a Master’s Major Project based upon their project work in the design studio, or emerging from one of the thematic areas or a combination of fields. The individual student will select an approved area of study, undertake appropriate research, develop thorough investigative processes, formulate their own argument or theoretical position, and produce an independent and coherent body of work.

The course of study as a whole and the broad format of project requirements, are intended to encourage a high degree of individual choice and responsibility in the final project. The Master’s Project sets students the challenge of sustaining an in-depth and original study of a topic or field of interest which tests their creative ambition, through their control of its direction and substance within a framework of critical reflection, supported by and measured against an established area of scholarship and practice.

Consideration has been given to the following: the Master’s Degree Characteristics Statement, the Subject Benchmark Statement (Art and Design, 2017), the HE Qualification Framework, the University’s Strategic Plan and Student Charter, the University’s Undergraduate Regulations, the views and feedback of students, external examiners and employers/ clients, developments within the subject area, and the changing needs of the cultural/ commercial sectors and professions. Due consideration has also been given to inclusivity in course and assessment design.

Embedded in The Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design, the course draws on the strengths of teaching staff from across the School and the wide circle of academic and cultural contacts and collaborators attached to the School and University.

Cass courses seek to provide and foster:

• learning through direct experience, connecting academic and creative studies;
• student choice in subject and style of learning;
• a culture of independent and critical thought, encouraging the challenging of received ideas and practice;
• employability attributes, through live projects engaging with external partners, institutions and companies that create a realistic environment of professional expectations for students, preparing students for graduate-level employment;
• engagement across the School and University, providing opportunities for collaborative project work during study;
• individualised learning and study support opportunities, that cater for different learning styles;
• awareness of the duty of all to understand the impact of their decisions and actions as designers and to strive to act responsibly.

The course employs a range of teaching and learning strategies including:

• emphasis on individual, specialised and in‐depth investigative research to gain knowledge and understanding of particular issues pertinent to personal design project work;
• project work taught through the studio and based on direct contact with studio tutors, conveyed by tutorials, lectures, colloquia, site visits and contributions from visiting external speakers;
• project work set through written briefs which the student responds to as 'problem-based learning' and which directs the course of their more specialised, in‐depth investigative research;
• emphasis on demonstration and application through the design process, a process of 'making' the work ‐ drawing, modelling and prototyping ‐ exercising the skills of self‐critical analysis through practice;
• a design process as a dual activity, which mediates between conceptual frameworks and testing procedures and encourages conceptual leaps and connections as well as logical process;
• development of the wider application of skills in specialised and unpredictable contexts through interdisciplinary project work, which is situated in live scenarios;
• portfolio and live presentation encouraging the effective communication of ideas through drawn and oral presentation techniques;
• exposure to professionals within the building industry such as technical consultants and architectural practices developing an awareness of systems and infrastructures of negotiation and proposition;
• exposure to the expectations of professional partners in the sector, raising awareness of the demands of professional practice.

Teaching methods include: lectures, seminars, tutorials, external visits, live briefings and feedback from partners, group colloquia, workshops and opportunities for studio practice. Teaching and learning adopts a student-centered approach that identifies individual learning styles and accommodates them.

Lectures provide and encourage a critically informed view of a topic, contextualising the subject and illustrating applied approaches. Lectures provide students with a managed introduction to a theme, enabling them to continue with suggested or directed self-study.

Seminars enable students to debate and explore subjects, questions and assignments with peers and tutors, encouraging an open and collaborative approach to shared learning.

The overall aims of the course are for students to be able to:

1. identify a field of personal interest in environmental, sustainable and regeneration design through research and creative thinking;
2. plan and execute an appropriate Master’s major project programme;
3. synthesise the outcomes in the production of a design based and theoretically grounded thesis/ project;
4. advance their range of conceptual and practical design skills and abilities and acknowledge the value of research;
5. explore and understand the theoretical frameworks of their work within its cultural and professional contexts;
6. develop professional skills in developing and delivering work that meets with high standards of communication; is sensitive to the needs and expectations of its intended recipients and the larger social context; is responsible towards its ethical, environmental and legal frameworks;
7. know and expand their own capabilities and see themselves as life‐long learners; to critically reflect on their experiences and take steps to consolidate their self‐presentation; to encourage them to contribute to the cultural debate and articulate these debates within the community at large;
8. develop disciplinary specialist skills and interests while seeking to enrich knowledge, understanding and intellectual abilities through interdisciplinary working.

The course addresses the needs of graduates from design backgrounds where traditional roles are increasingly blurred and design skills may be needed in a variety of guises. It emphasises generic and transferable skills in design, and locates the subject in this broader context to encourage its graduates to seek and create opportunities for the practice of their discipline. Students whose first degree is not directly aligned to the named Masters will be supported and guided appropriately to meet the requirements and learning objectives of Master’s level study.

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

1. acquire, assimilate and apply processes of investigative, analytical and speculative research and design methodologies drawn from a range of disciplinary sources in design and the environment (CA 2,3,4,8);
2. apply to the design process deep knowledge and sophisticated critical understanding of historical and theoretical frameworks and cultural traditions relevant to their field of interest, and the various and diverse forms of design practice through which it is informed (CA 1,2,5,8);
3. identify and develop through project work a specific set of interests that can become the basis for professional and career development (CA 1,7,8);

Cognitive Intellectual Abilities

4. develop designs through an iterative process that tests and communicates ideas and propositions through critical, collaborative and self‐reflective processes of evaluation (CA 3,4,7);
5. formulate and communicate clear and well‐founded conceptual frameworks that underpin design proposals (CA 3,4,5);
6. construct effective design research and development processes that can be used to test concepts against practical and theoretical criteria (CA 2,7,8);
7. critically reflect and engage in discourse on the practical, economic, social and ethical implications of design propositions (CA 1,3,4,8);
8. advocate a design scheme that responds convincingly to complex conditions; that navigates a feasible route through competing commercial, cultural and ethical issues, articulating a coherent intellectual position (CA 2,6,7);
9. clearly formulate a critical framework of ideas and propositions through appropriate models of representation or written argument (CA 2,3,4,6,7);

Subject Specific Skills

10. collate, document and present sophisticated and complex research material to produce a cogent body of work (CA 2,3,6);
11. direct and manage a design process to achieve a convincing and well‐worked proposition (CA 2,6);
12. communicate in an ambitious and effective way, the ideas and intentions behind an design proposal through an appropriate range of representational techniques (drawing, CAD, model making, prototyping, collage, material sampling and testing, etc) (CA 2,3,4,6);
13. give verbal and visual presentations of findings and proposals to an appropriate standard, in a range of formats such as live presentations, poster presentations, portfolios, slideshows and film (CA 2,6,7);
14. produce a cogent project document of a professional standard and express oneself effectively in written form (CA 2,6,7);

Transferable Skills

15. communicate effectively in writing and representational drawn techniques and in oral presentation of complex design concepts and propositions (CA 2,3,6);
16. apply research and design skills appropriately and be able to transfer techniques and design processes from one project or context to another (CA 1,3,4);
17. develop effective means of group or team working, including directing and working as a member of a team (CA 7,8);
18. plan, manage and audit time, progress and resources effectively (CA 2,7);
19. learn independently, demonstrating attributes of critical enquiry, lateral thinking, the ability to deal with complex and unstable problems, and developing strategies for continuous self-development (CA 3,4,6,7,8).

Module Title Module Code LOs

Design Research for Practice DN7017 1,2,6,7,9,10,14,16,19
Design Project Development DN7018 1,2,3,4,6,8,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19
Project as Professional Practice: Environmental, Sustainable and Regeneration Design DN7P05 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19
Interior Contexts DN7010 1,2,3,5,7,9,10,13,18,19
Design for Change DN7012 1,2,3,5,7,9,10,13,18,19
Democratising Luxury DN7013 1,2,3,5,7,9,10,13,18,19
Material Thought DN7014 1,2,3,5,7,9,10,13,18,19
Exterior Contexts DN7020 1,2,3,5,7,9,10,13,18,19

Subject Benchmark Statement; Art and Design 2017

The assessment strategy for the course has been designed holistically, to ensure manageable timing, workloads and clarity of expectations for students, and to avoid duplication of assessment of learning outcomes.

The assessment regimes for the modules and tasks are designed together with the briefs, prior to the start of the year, taking into account student, external examiner, professional collaborator and colleague feedback from previous instances. The requirements of briefs and their components, the assessment criteria, grading scheme and descriptors are published and explained to students at the start of the year and are designed to be used as consistently as possible, to avoid unnecessary complication. Assessment is related to the achievement of learning outcomes; qualification frameworks and subject benchmark statements are consulted to ensure clear language that is appropriate to level of study. Students are informed of the procedures for first, second and parity marking, and external examiner scrutiny of the assessment process and marks, to ensure that they understand and have confidence in the probity of the process and security of the final marks.

In every case, there is required formative assessment and feedback prior to summative assessment at set points. This is recorded so that it can be used by both students and staff to track further progress and engage support where it is required. Feedback follows good pedagogic practice in that it is constructed as ‘feed-forward’, with a focus on specific actions and strategies as to how to improve, not only on what requires improvement. Challenge to students is managed, so that students performing well in-year are encouraged to strive for excellence, while those performing less well experience clear, targeted and structured guidance, including notice of where they are doing well or are showing potential.

The course adheres to the University’s requirements for assessment and feedback turnaround times and to academic regulations for marking and second marking sampling. Additionally, the course engages in Subject and School parity exercises to ensure that assessment standards are consistent. This is especially important in relation to studio delivery through which students on the same modules will be undertaking differing projects.

Work- related learning is embedded in the course through live projects, industry visits, visiting speakers and extracurricular opportunities.

The majority of tutors and lecturers on the course are practitioners and share their knowledge and experience with students throughout their course of study. The unit or studio delivery of the course means that opportunities for work-related learning through collaboration with external companies, agencies, institutions, competitions and professionals can be taken up as they arise, if appropriate to the programme of study.

Units and studios function as simulations of professional workplaces, with expectations of professional standards, conduct and delivery building as the students progress towards the completion and presentation of their thesis projects.

The course will undertake a formal academic review of student performance at the end of each semester. Students performing below threshold standard will be recommended and/or required to revise their programme of study.

DN7P05 Project as Professional Practice: Environmental, Sustainable and Regeneration Design module must be taken in the final year of MA study, DN7018 Design Project Development must have been completed and passed before the module is commenced.

Subject specialism ( 20 credit) modules:

The School maintains a portfolio of MA (level 7) 20 credit modules, two of which will be core to this course in any particular year. Prior to the start of the course each September, the course team, with Head of School approval, shall determine which of the modules should be the core 20 credit modules for the following academic cycle, based on the project opportunities arising and the balance of students across the portfolio of MA Design courses. All of the modules have been determined to make the required contribution to achievement of the course learning outcomes.

Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits):
DN7017 Design Research for Practice (40) or DN7018 Design Project Development (40) plus any 20 credit module from the course diet.

Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits):
DN7017 Design Research for Practice (40), DN7018 Design Project Development (40), plus any two 20 credit modules from the course diet.

Masters (180 credits):
DN7017 Design Research for Practice (40), DN7018 Design Project Development (40), DN7P05 Project as Professional Practice: Environmental, Sustainable and Regeneration Design (60) plus any two 20 credit modules from the course diet.

Part-time mode of study:
In part-time mode, the duration of study for a 180-credit MA degree will be 2 years. The prescribed pattern of study in this instance shall be as follows;

Year 1: DN7017 Design Research for Practice (40) plus any two 20 credit modules from the course diet;

Year 2: DN7018 Design Project Development (40) plus DN7P05 Project as Professional Practice: Environmental, Sustainable and Regeneration Design (60).

DN7P05 Project as Professional Practice: Environmental, Sustainable and Regeneration Design module must be taken in the final year of MA study, DN7018 Design Project Development must have been completed and passed before the module is commenced.

Alternate sequencing of the other modules may be considered with academic consent.

The School’s studio system of curriculum delivery embeds collaborative and reflective learning and personal development planning throughout the course.

Most summative assessment is at the end of modules, with formative assessment points formally instituted in the course of the module. At these interim formative assessment and feedback points, students reflect on their progress to date with their peers and course staff (with the benefit of feedback from professional partners), seek help where they identify the opportunity for improvement in learning strategies and outcomes, and make recommendations to themselves for future development. The feedback and student reflection is recorded and forms an action plan for the next period of study.

This system is highly individualised, but also benefits from peer engagement in studio colloquia. The School’s programme of extra-curricular events and industry-led projects supports students’ personal development planning. Through these initiatives, students are increasingly able, as they progress through the course, to understand the professional environment of their disciplines, the various opportunities available to them, and how to shape their learning according to their ambitions.

Throughout the modules and the course therefore, in this way, students build bodies of work, including reflections on progress and achievement, and planning for their future achievement of targets.

British Institute of Interior Design Code of Conduct
and Professional Ethics

The course provides a professional, practical and theoretical understanding of environmental, sustainable and regeneration design. Exposure to, and advice from leading practitioners is consistently available.

Graduates generally work as practitioners within a wide range of design occupations, and in fields allied to both such as design consultancy, education, media, cultural institutions and policy. Students wishing to develop their research are encouraged to apply to undertake a PhD within the department.

Students can also benefit from support and guidance from the Careers and Employability services and the University’s business incubator unit, ‘Accelerator’.

Following the MA you could seek opportunities as an environmental designer, strategist, urban design specialist or regeneration consultant or planner.

You will be required to have:

• a first class or upper second class degree (or equivalent) in a related subject
• a portfolio of relevant work and a statement demonstrating your ambition for the subject area and for studying at postgraduate level