Beyond the 6Rs. A Practical and Reflective Experience for Industrial Design Students

Today, social and environmental awareness is starting to become a fact of life in our society. Responsible production and consumption has become a requirement for citizens. Thus, concepts such as Circular Economy or Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are introduced and begin to be generalized in companies and universities as well as the 6R concept (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Redesign, Recover, and Remanufacture). 6R concept enables the recovery of products at the end of their useful life into another life cycle for more sustainable manufacturing. The design of the product and its configuration will influence the associated processes and the performance of the system. In this regard, one of the outstanding agents of change are Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Involving students in sustainability actions is an essential factor as knowledge acquired in youth tends to remain. And if we focus on future industrial designers, moreover to generating self-awareness as a citizen, it must be generated self-awareness through knowledge as a professional designer. That is why in this 2021–2022 academic year, and taking some successful experiences as a reference, we have incorporated a reflective approach from the SDGs, recyclability, reuse, etc. to the course exercises. The results of the experience support the methodology used. A high percentage of the students surveyed consider that the proposed practical works have helped them better understand concepts related to the 6Rs and skills related to the circular economy and eco-design that will be practical and useful in the future.