Fostering Eco-designers through Workshop and Exhibition

The Ecological Design Committee of the Japan Industrial Designers' Association (JIDA) has organized an eco-workshop every year since 2004 for students of industrial design. The workshop ends with the Exhibition of Eco-design Concepts, where students are given the chance to present their work among professional designers. The exhibition attracts some 2,000 visitors every year, and the 2006 event was the fourth since 2003.

About twenty students from design schools in the Kanto area, including Tokyo, receive free instruction from professional designers in five workshop sessions over six months. The students gain access to professional know-how for designing easily-repairable eco-products with ecological materials, and benefit from a range of experiences, such as interacting with students from other schools and presenting their own work.

The committee is one of the study groups of JIDA, a nationwide Japanese association of industrial designers of mass products ranging from stationery to automobiles. Since being established nine years ago, the study group has been expanding their activities to transmit their achievements to society through eco-design exhibitions and workshops for students. Haruhiko Asai, associate professor of Meisei University and chairman of the group said, "We consider and implement what we, professional designers, can contribute to society to preserve ecology."


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Posted: 2007/02/19 11:57:13 AM
Japanese version