Bringing Climate Change into the Design Classroom with Eric Benson
We’re excited to introduce you to Eric Benson, one of our advisors and collaborators at ClimateDesigners.org.
Eric is the Chair of Graphic Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as author of the book, Design to Re-Nourish, a manual of sustainability through systems-thinking for the graphic designer.
In this 17 minute conversation, we ask Eric to share some of his experience bringing sustainability concepts into the classroom as a design educator, even when the curriculum doesn’t necessarily call for it.
“Ask for forgiveness, not permission,” Eric says. Being a design educator right now gives us an amazing opportunity to influence the future of our climate crisis. With Eric’s help, we aim to add many more resources here at ClimateDesigners.org to help design educators do just that.
Links mentioned in this episode
Living Principles — AIGA’s Roadmap for Sustainable Design
Design to Re-Nourish — Eric’s book, systems-thinking for the graphic designer
Kiss the Ground’s graphic illustrating sustainable vs regenerative
Re-Nourish.org — Eric’s non-profit
Freshpress.studio — Eric’s papermaking studio