Sustainability and teaching architecture. Teaching sustainability to teachers

Abstract

This article presents some research started by the Doctoral Thesis of the author, ‘Environmental Training of Architects: Towards a Teaching Syllabus Based on Architecture and the Environment’ (La formación medioambiental del arquitecto: hacia un program de docencia basado en la arquitectura y el medioambiente), and goes on developing different a methodologies for the extrapolation of these teaching strategies to the teaching practice. The Doctoral Thesis studies a content structure of environmental themes that should be included in all syllabuses of the schools of architecture in Europe and all over the world. Going further from this strategy it is necessary to develop a different approach that includes teaching methodologies to involve and teach educators in terms of sustainability. These methodologies should be used as Long term learning strategies for educators. The aim of this article is to analyse the ecological and environmental aspects to be considered in the development of architectonic and urban planning projects in terms of training and coaching teachers for future requirements we already can detect in cities and buildings. It presents some of the strategies carried out in several universities to acknowledge the state of the art and encourage tutors to introduce and develop sustainability issues in their syllabus and methodologies.

Courses, meetings, lectures, debates, a competition, interviews, etc., have been carried out in order to promote, encourage and maintain a close and constant support for those tutors and students involved in this experience. This research shows that the tutor is a key element to integrate sustainability issues in the teaching of architecture; without their cooperation and involvement the development of other initiatives is meaningless.