Ecological Design Graduate Certificate

The Ecological Design Certificate is a design-based, interdisciplinary program focused on the development of a practical framework for the integration of the built environment with local and region specific natural systems.

This certificate is available to all graduate students within the College of Design.

Participating students are challenged to develop an in-depth understanding of the relationships between ecological processes, issues of cultural and social sustainability, and urban development and form, and how allied design and planning disciplines approach these relationships. Students will acquire a theoretical and pragmatic basis to carry these understandings into the world of practice.

The Ecological Design Certificate Program provides explicit curricular structure in ecologically sensitive design, encouraging students to develop an ecologically based design awareness, solidifying the commitment of the University to interdisciplinary inquiry, and upholding its capacity for leadership in the field.

The Ecological Design Certificate is a graduate certificate program in the Department of Architecture that is available to all graduate students within the College of Design. The Ecological Design Certificate is meant to support students to develop an ecologically based design awareness, solidifying the commitment of the University to interdisciplinary inquiry, and upholding its capacity for leadership in the field.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Have a multi-disciplinary understanding of the principles of ecology and of how they may be integrated into the design of the built environment.
• Be familiar with current topics in cultural and social sustainability and urban development, including perspectives from multiple design disciplines.
• Have an in-depth theoretical and practical understanding of environmental and social sustainability.

Certificate in Ecological Design Requirements

Students must complete a minimum of 24 credits in approved ecological design subject courses. A maximum of 12 credits may be counted for both the certificate and a graduate degree program, but required courses for the degree will not satisfy certificate electives. For most architecture and interior architecture students, this certificate requires 12 credits in addition to their degree requirements. Some students may need to complete prerequisites to develop subject proficiency for approved electives. More information on course requirements and application to the certificate program may be found online.