AI Summary & Key Takeaways
AI InsightFindings indicate varying levels of engagement, suggesting that earlier coursework may implicitly inform students’ ability to express sustainability concerns in culturally sensitive contexts.
📌 3 Key Takeaways
Abstract
The worsening climate crisis, depletion of natural resources, and global economic uncertainties have reshaped development paradigms and brought the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the forefront of higher education agendas. Architectural education, due to its direct influence on the built environment and social life, plays a strategic role in advancing sustainability-oriented thinking. This study was conducted at Abdullah Gül University (AGÜ), which integrates the SDGs into its mission, vision, and departmental curricula. All undergraduates are required to complete five sustainability-focused courses before their senior year, providing a structured foundation for subsequent design education. The research examines how this prior exposure to SDG-focused learning influences other departmental courses, with particular attention to a third-year design studio held in Fall 2022 in the Architecture Department. The studio, located in Divriği, a historic town in Sivas recognized as an urban conservation site, was not explicitly centered around the SDGs but structured around a social responsibility theme that implicitly aligns with them. Through thematic and content analysis of thirty-three students’ project briefs, the study explores which SDGs were addressed and how they were translated into design strategies. Findings indicate varying levels of engagement, suggesting that earlier coursework may implicitly inform students’ ability to express sustainability concerns in culturally sensitive contexts.