Exploring the Indirect Effects of a Sustainable Development Goals-Focused Curriculum on Architectural Design Studio

Year 2025, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 327 - 340, 15.12.2025

Bahar Elagöz Timur , Buket Metin , Özlem Kevseroğlu

https://doi.org/10.46474/jds.1801321

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.

Keywords

Architectural education , Architectural design studio , Sustainable Development Goals , Vernacular architecture , Design research

References

• Akgün, Y., Doğrusoy, İ. T., & Özsöyler, D. (2024). Integrating sustainable development goals into architectural design education: a case study in second year design studio. Archnet IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research. Advance online publication. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-04-2024-0158
• Barth, M. (2013). Many roads lead to sustainability: A process-oriented analysis of change in higher education. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 14(2), 160–175. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/14676371311312879
• Bertone, E., Bischeri, C., & Boddy, J. (2024). Integration of the sustainable development Goals (SDGs) in architecture curriculum – quantifying the extent of SDG contributions. Environmental Education Research, 31(3), 566–586. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2024.2365403
• Bransford, J. D., & Schwartz, D. L. (1999). Rethinking transfer: A simple proposal with multiple implications. Review of Research in Education, 24(1), 61–100. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X024001061
• Burton, L.O. & Salama, A.M. (2023). Sustainable Development Goals and the future of architectural education – cultivating SDGs-centred architectural pedagogies”, Archnet IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, 17 (3), 421-442. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-08-2023-0201
• El-Kholei, A. O., & Yassein, G. A. (2023). Embedding sustainability and SDGs in architectural and planning education: Reflections from a KAP survey, Egypt. Archnet-IJAR: International Journal for Architectural Research, 17(3), 459–477. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-07-2022-0156
• El-Kholei, A. O., Amer, A. S., & Yassein, G. A. (2025). Embedding sustainable development goals in architectural education: A case study of Menoufia University 2023 graduation projects. Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, 19(1), 149–170. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-12-2023-0326
• Erkarslan, O.E. & Akgün, Y. (2022). Incorporating united Nations 2030 sustainable future agenda into the architectural studio: a graduation studio case, International Journal of Art and Design Education, 41(4), 603-620, doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12435
• Granato, A. (2023). An Architectural Teaching and Learning Framework: Tackling the Implementation of SDGs in Architectural Education. In: Rubbo, A., Du, J., Thomsen, M.R., Tamke, M. (eds) Design for Resilient Communities. UIA 2023. Sustainable Development Goals Series, (807-814). Springer, Cham. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36640-6_56
• Hendawy, M. M. Z. E., Junaid, M., & Amin, A. (2024). Integrating sustainable development goals into the architecture curriculum: Experiences and perspectives. City and Environment Interactions. Advance online publication. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cacint.2023.100138
• Herrera-Limones, R., Lopez De Asiain, M., Borrallo-Jiménez, M., Torres García, M. (2021). Tools for the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Design of an Urban Environmental and Healthy Proposal. A Case Study. Sustainability, 13(11), 6431. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116431
• International Union of Architects (UIA). (2023). UNESCO–UIA Charter for Architectural Education (Revised July 2023). https://www.uia-architectes.org/en/resource/unesco-uia-charter-for-architectural-education-revised-july-2023/.(accessed August 22, 2025).
• Lozano, R. (2006). A Tool For a Graphical Assessment of Sustainability in Universities (GASU), Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 14, pp. 963-972. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2005.11.041
• Mahgoub, M. (2024). Extracurricular activities as a pedagogy for the 2030 Agenda integration in an architectural engineering curriculum: A case study. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-02-2024-0149
• Metin, B., Kevseroğlu Kurban, Özlem, & Elagöz Timur, B. (2025). Developing Design Strategies within Vernacular Context: A Social Responsibility-Based Approach to Architectural Education. Journal of Mediterranean Cities, 5(1), 49–68. https://doi.org/10.38027/mediterranean-cities_vol5no1_4
• National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). (2020). 2020 conditions for accreditation. NAAB. https://www.naab.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-NAAB-Conditions-for-Accreditation.pdf (accessed August 22, 2025).
• Perkins, D. N., & Salomon, G. (1992). Transfer of learning. In T. Husen & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Education (2nd ed., pp. 6452–6457). Pergamon Press.
• Polanyi, M. (1966). The Tacit Dimension. University of Chicago Press.
• Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). (2020). The way ahead. RIBA. https://riba-prd-assets.azureedge.net/-/media/GatherContent/Business-Benchmarking/Additional-Documents/RIBA-The-Way-Aheadbrochurepdf.pdf?rev=5f6b0712f5105432fb6031e-420dd98e48 (accessed August 22, 2025).
• Schrijver, L. (Ed.). (2021). The Tacit Dimension: Architecture Knowledge and Scientific Research. Leuven University Press.
• Tawfik, M., El Sayed, M., & Emad, S. (2024). A sustainable development comprehensive view in architectural education: Case study to reimage the urban public space with a special focus on Giza Zoo. Journal of Urban Research, 48(4), 83-99. doi: 10.21608/jur.2024.295547.1160
• United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
• University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF). (1990). The Talloires Declaration. Washington, DC: ULSF. https://ulsf.org/talloires-declaration/