1. ISDI Parsons Course Documentation
SHRINIDHI VENKATESH
SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS
MS.PRARTHANA PATIL
FEBRUARY 9,2017

2. COURSE BRIEF AND STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
The purpose of this course is to observe, understand from those observations and learnings and ideate various systems that will sustain in our ecosystem keeping in mind our ever changing surroundings.
Hey there! Shrinidhi here! Nidhi in short. I would like to welcome you into the world of design through my eyes. I’m currently a design student in grad school studying at The Indian School Of Design And Innovation(ISDI) in collaboration with The New School Parsons. This documentation has been made as a part of my learning portfolio and for my review.
Blog Link : shrinidhivenkatesh.wordpress.com

3. 2
Week 1 – project details
A short brief of what was discussed in class on sustainable systems and what I understood:
We looked at the words ‘Sustainable Systems’ and ‘Sustainability’ and broke them down to understand these two completely different words that people use very loosely and interchangeably without looking into it with a deeper sense of its meaning, which is why we tried to understand them very closely.
I understood that Sustainable Systems operate through their own responses. These systems also involve judicious use of resources which involve reducing the use of actual resources resulting optimum usage of those resources. Over the course of the lecture, we also discussed how some systems could be completely self-sustainable and how certain systems need not be independent.

4. Sustain/able/Systems:
‘Sustain’ refers to keep something functioning and going.
‘able’ refers to complete a task, in this case, very efficiently, by needing to generate and develop resources. These resources include experience and knowledge, power and skill.
It’s what helps differentiate what we ‘want’ v/s what we ‘have’ v/s what we ‘need’, because it all finally comes down to us as the end consumers or as scientists who constantly generate different ways and means of effectively and efficiently making use of our resources.
Systems have to be sustainable to work irrespective of ‘I’. Systems always involve a great deal of teamwork and I think that’s one of the biggest differences between Sustainability and Sustainable Systems, the battle of ‘I’ v/s ‘Us’.

5. Sustainability on the other hand is a very relative term and its meaning changes with context. Keeping its general and main characteristics in mind, It involves keeping in mind the consequences and effects of the long term than the short term which is affected by various individual opinions and perspectives.
Now, we also discussed why Sustainability was important in general, and how it was mainly important for us as design students in the design field. It is such a big deal especially in this industry because consumers consume what designers design, of course with the designers keeping in mind the problems of the end consumers and creating more and more solutions to the various kinds of problems faced by people from all walks of life.

6. 2
Week 2 – project details
We started of the lecture by discussing about the various changes that man makes to our ecosystem according to his wants and needs and how those systems keep changing to sustain over the constantly changing surroundings.
We then discussed about our heroes. We had to pair up and were given a chit containing a list of qualities and were asked to choose around 4 qualities that we think should be in ‘our’ definition of a hero from that list.
We were asked to discuss each other’s points and justify them for the following class.

8. A hero is someone I look up to everyday - A person whom I consider a role model, someone who I aspire to be like hopefully. A hero is loved by all - A random act of kindness, may not just be like he/she did you a favor, but just their mere presence has made all that difference in your life. Probably something they did, made a major impact in your life, moved you or maybe caused you to start thinking differently. A hero has to overcome several obstacles – A hero to me, at times can be subjected to a lot of backlash from others who may be judgmental and don’t know their whole story or maybe from us when we need someone to vent our anger on and this hero is someone who is there to help not just me but others and gives them the strength to go through life’s difficulties. They are always there to hear you out without any judgments. A hero inspires me to dream big and reminds me what I am capable of doing best to make a difference.

9. I found it interesting how she had a different view on a particular opinion of mine and I think she explained it really well about how someone’s opinion on obstacles are subjective depending on the person’s perseverance and determination and how it doesn’t remain one after it has been overcome.
We were also asked to think about complex and simple sustainable systems in nature.
For complex sustainable systems, I thought of Forests as they are not only a complex system within themselves but they also contain other smaller complex and simple sustainable systems within them which also directly affect their system for example, life cycles of various organisms, water cycle, food cycle, plant growth,etc.

10. 2 Week – 3 & 4 project details
We started our class by watching two TED talks on “Why We Need to Think Differently About Sustainability” by Leyla Acaroglu, followed by “To Hell with Sustainability” by Colin Beaven.
We discussed various elements and our learnings from the two videos.
We then discussed about the importance of the three R’s: Reduce,Reuse,Recycle which led us to the discussion on the difference between Recycling and Upcycling
We were asked to work over the next two weeks to come up with an upcycled product.
We were also asked to write down a list of things that bothered us in our daily lives and what we wish we could change about it.
After discussing this list of things we wish we could change, we would have to make a mind map of these things along with the least and most sustainable solutions to these problems.

11. For our final project 1, as a group of two sections, we were divided into groups of six and came up with the topic of identifying student culture at ISDI, where each group would pick up one factor that affects student culture. We began by identifying those various factors that affect our student culture.

12. 2
Week – 5 project details
My upcycling project was a jewelry hanger made out of 2 hangers, coconut pith fiber and a rolling pin.

13. My mind map that I had made for the things I wish I could change
My mind map that I had made for the things I wish I could change. The most sustainable solutions are in green and the least sustainable solutions are in orange.

14. MY GROUP PROJECT ON IDENTIFYING THE STUDENT CULTURE AT ISDI

15. Student Responsibility & Extra Curricular Activities

16. Focusing on Extra Curricular Activities Understanding Current Issues
No Extra Curricular Activities Being Held Students Do Not Stay Back After College Hours Ineffective Use of Time

17. Getting to the Core

18. Would you like to have extra curricular activities at ISDI?

19. What restricts you from participating in college activities?

20. How often do you want these activities to be held?

21. What is the most convenient timing for having an extra curricular activity?

22. Would you attend these extra curricular activities during weekends?

23. Does your faculty encourage you to participate in college activities?

24. Intangible Solutions
Student Driven Activities After College Hours Student’s Responsibility College’s Role

25. 3 student reflection and learning
From this course, I understood that I misunderstood and misinterpreted sustainability and always linked it with being eco-friendly and I understood that everything around us is a system and the importance of why it is necessary to make sure these systems are designed and structured in a way where it sustains in our ever-changing environment.