NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FOR DESIGNERS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERS
In order to achieve a sustainable society new demands on product development have to be met by companies. When new products are developed their life cycle has to be taken in account in order to minimize the environmental impact. Today environmental improvements can be an advantage in competing with other companies. To meet this new demand designers have to be educated regarding environmental issues in general, but also specifically about design for environment. In this paper education for designers is discussed. A survey of former students from the environmental engineering program at the University of Kalmar was carried out to obtain their view of the education. Interviews were also held with designers/mechanical engineers working in Swedish companies regarding their environmental education. The aim of the study was to see what kind of environmental education companies provide for their employees and to what extent former students of environmental engineering have use for their education.