Hi! We are the Sustainability within the Arts and Architecture team. After researching sustainability within Arts and Architecture education, we found that there was a gap in research on how to make Arts and Architecture education sustainable. This year we will be conducting an audit of materials used supplemented with informant interviews and student surveys to understand resource acquisition and waste management within the School of Arts and Architecture to supply digestible sustainability recommendations.
In general, arts and architecture departments across the country are ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing sustainability practices. Often the students and faculty of these departments are well aware of sustainability issues and their projects can be vessels for the sustainability message. Our team is interested in how sustainable arts and architecture education at UCLA is and how it can be improved. The Sustainability Action Research (SAR) Arts and Architecture Team seeks to find an ethical and cost-effective approach to applying sustainability within the School of Arts and Architecture at UCLA, which will benefit students, faculty, and staff alike.
We will conduct interviews and tours with lab and studio managers within the school to develop “focus groups” of the labs and studios. Then we will compile an audit of materials used within the school and conduct research on more sustainable options or ways resources and waste can be consolidated. We will also be conducting a student survey to understand the opinions and views of the students within the school pertaining to sustainability and resource use. By combining views of both staff and students we are addressing community participatory based research by gaining a wide understanding of the school from all sides and taking them into consideration within the research.
Stakeholder: Linda Holmes, UCLA Director of Operations and Information Services
Team Leaders: Sam Trezona, Madeline Zhang
Team Members: Gabrielle Biederman, Grace Choe, Samantha Low, Alexandra Rosean