MSSA CAG Manifesto

We are living in a twin crisis of climate breakdown and biodiversity loss. Buildings and the construction industry are responsible for nearly 40% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. As students training to be part of the architectural profession, we need to prepare to respond to the current issues with gaining adequate knowledge and skills to be able to apply sustainable and environmentally progressive thinking in our future work.

Climate Literacy Curriculum

Sustainable Design

Architectural education needs to adopt a more focused and explicit teaching of sustainable principles to ensure students leave the schools with knowledge and tools to design buildings which meet the targets we need to slow down the climate crisis.

Ecological Principles

In the age of the anthropocene, ecology should not be an afterthought in design. Architecture should become more holistic considering whole life cycles and circular economies, it should integrate design for both humans and non-humans, and become more ecologically resilient.

Retrofit and Reuse

It is estimated that 85% of the buildings that will be in use in 2050 are already standing today. Therefore working with existing buildings is essential to minimise carbon emissions from the construction industry. Architectural education should reflect this reality by incorporating retrofitting design principles in the curriculum.

Cultural Change

Honesty

Transparency of operations and actions is key to be able to assess the environmental impact of a design or organisation, especially in our digital age. Both the teaching and operation of the architecture schools should follow this agenda and be honest about things that could be improved, as the culture of the institutions set the aspirations for student thinking.

Intersectionality

The immediate impacts of the ecological breakdown vary in intensity depending on class, race, gender and geography. We must acknowledge the relationship between climate, inequality and racial justice. Moreover, we should constantly push to challenge global inequities of power both as students and later as practicing professionals.

Normalisation

Sustainability currently is mostly viewed as a specialist area. The architectural education needs a value shift where environmental design is normalised and becomes part of the underlying principles of design without a unique status. Architecture should remain to be a practice of imagining and creating ideal futures, however, we have to realise that considering our planet is also fundamental for a better tomorrow.

Collaboration

Knowledge Sharing

We can only respond to such a large issue with collaborating, learning from and supporting each other in professional practice. Knowledge sharing, openness, and communication between students and universities should be at the core of education to prepare graduates to be able to meaningfully engage in professional group work, which is essential to achieve the most effective actions.

Interdisciplinary Practices

The collaboration and communication between different industries is also essential in creating change. Architecture is the result of many inputs from various professions, therefore cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary dialogues need to be established to ensure that actions can be expansive and continual.

Collective and Individual Action

Behavioural change is needed at both institutional and individual levels, both in professional practice and our daily lives. In this we should all support each other, remain open, and seek to learn about the impact of our actions to be able to learn from our mistakes.

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The ideas of MSSA CAG members compiled and written down by Mylan Thuroczy