In this video, we are invited into the world of the Service Learning - Community Design Studio course held at the University of Vermont. Gund Fellow, architect, & professor - Diane Elliott Gayer - introduces us to her teaching philosophies while simultaneously sharing core concepts of her sustainable & integrative design approaches. Ultimately, we learn how her students use systems-thinking and ecological principles to develop holistic approaches to the research, drawing, and communication of their designs for the greater Burlington community.

A core element to the course is the systems approach that is Ecological Design. Ecological Design sees all systems as complex, adaptive systems, whether they contain human actors or not. This perspective is essential if one hopes to reintegrate humans with the rest of nature and begin to heal the ecosystems we co-habit. Ecological Design employs transdisciplinary integration, cooperative energy, creative synthesis, and true participatory problem-solving to understand and resolve increasingly complex issues. Ecological Design is a key component of the Gund Institute's efforts to create a more secure & sustainable future. The Certificate of Graduate Study in Ecological Design is overseen by Diane Gayer and Dr. John Todd.

Diane Gayer is a Fellow of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics and a lecturer in the Rubenstein School at The University of Vermont. Her professional experience includes work as an architect, community planner, and environmental designer. She is director of the Vermont Design Institute (VDI), a non-profit design and community development collaborative based in Burlington, Vermont.