Comprehensive Study Guide for the 10% Initiative: How Might We BEE Better Sustainable Design Project

Program Overview: 10% Initiative - How Might We BEE Better

• Project Name: How Might We BEE Better PROGRAMME / 10% Initiative.

• Duration: $3$ Weeks.

• Dates: $25$ May – $12$ June $2026$.

• Institution: OneAIE / Greenside Design Centre (GDC).

• Educational Blueprint: The project is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), described as the blueprint for a better and sustainable future by addressing global challenges including:

  • Poverty

  • Inequality

  • Climate change

  • Environmental degradation

  • Prosperity

  • Peace and justice

• Goal Timeline: The UN aims for the achievement of each Goal and target by the year $2030$.

Institutional Mission and the 10% Initiative

• Mission Alignment: In accordance with the GDC's mission to 'encourage commitment to social responsibility.'

• Higher Education Context: Following the Council on Higher Education's focus on Community Engagement as a core function of institutions.

• Project Significance: The 10% Initiative is Greenside Design Centre’s response to the demand for higher education to impact social transformation and community development significantly.

• Opportunity for Engagement: It allows staff and students to explore 'designedly engagements' within a domain—community needs—that rarely receives support from professional design services.

The Project Brief: Bee Conservation and Design Thinking

• Rationale: Bees are vital to human life, global food supplies, ecosystems, and economies.

• Identified Causes of Global Bee Decline:

  • Habitat Loss: Destruction of natural environments.

  • Pesticides and Chemicals: Toxic exposures.

  • Climate Change: Forceful migration to areas with insufficient food sources.

  • Diseases and Pests: Biological threats to hive health.

  • Poor Beekeeping Practices: Stress-inducing methods that weaken insect immune systems.

• Core Research Question: "How might we make improvements in day-to-day practices, encourage positive habits, and conceive of large interventions to protect and conserve these vital insects?"

• Design Objective: Utilize design thinking processes to improve, uplift, or re-invent a specific aspect of the world of bees.

Week 1 Schedule: Investigate, Interpret & Ideate

• Focus: Defining the opportunity to improve or the specific issue to solve.

• Thinking Methodology: Students apply divergent thinking through class exercises and immersion in bee-related topics.

• Key Activities:

  • Conduct appropriate research and analyze precedents.

  • Elicit needs, shortcomings, and "ultimate dreams" regarding the world of bees.

  • Document 10 specific opportunities per group and post them on the Miro board.

  • Attend a documentary screening on Thursday followed by a group discussion on experiences, passions, and challenges.

• Milestones:

  • Apply convergent thinking to narrow the substantial list of opportunities down to one focal point.

  • Generate a minimum of $15$ concepts per group.

  • Concepts must be documented as feasible routes with brief explanations and quick visual evidence.

Week 2 Schedule: Iterate, Refine & Investigate Further

• Focus: Refining the selected opportunity.

• Selection Process: Choose $4$ out of the $15$ concepts based on three criteria:

  • Most innovative

  • Most do-able

  • Most impactful

• Individual Development: Each group member chooses one of the $4$ concepts (their own or a teammate's) to develop further.

• Development Phase: Spend approximately $1$ to $2$ days on research, precedent analysis, and visual recording of design thinking.

• Saturday Milestone: Each group conducts a brief presentation ($5$ to $10$ minutes). The class votes to select the one concept that will be fully resolved by the group.

Week 3 Schedule: Iterate & Finalize

• Focus: Finalizing the solution to the selected bee opportunity.

• Testing Requirements: Iterations must be tested via analyzed prototypes or user testing.

• Deliverable Requirements:

  • Demonstrate the feasibility of the solution.

  • Substantiate design decisions through research.

  • Document the resolved design thoroughly.

• Final Logistics:

  • Tuesday: Complete the final group presentation for the start of class and submit a copy to the class Teams chat.

  • Wednesday & Thursday: Preparation, editing, and rehearsal of the formal presentation.

  • Thursday: Formal final presentation due.

  • Attendance: All students must attend all sessions online.

Deliverable 1: Design (Group Behance / Miro Project)

Groups must demonstrate their solution via a public Behance or Miro project. Mandatory elements include:

• Context: Design problem context supported by research (must use at least two forms: primary user research like interviews/surveys, or secondary desktop research from credible sources).

• POV Statement: A clearly defined Point of View statement.

• Ideation: Full documentation of the ideation process.

• Prototype: A medium to high-fidelity prototype (rendered in software, mocked up digitally, photographed, or illustrated).

• User Testing: Documentation of testing with users.

• Recommendations: Suggestions for further development if additional time were available.

• Note on Assessment: Every student must be a project owner on Behance. The project must be public to be graded.

Deliverable 2: Portfolio of Evidence (Individual)

Each student submits a Portfolio of Evidence (PoE) using the provided PowerPoint Template to prove personal contribution. It must include:

• Evidence of daily engagement.

• Specific indication of individual contributions to research, precedent analysis, ideation, prototyping, and testing.

• Proof of collaboration on the Critical Studies (CS) presentation.

Deliverable 3: Critical Studies (CS) Presentation (Group)

Groups submit a presentation following a specific template outline. Requirements include:

• Literary Quote: A quote from a literary text defining/explaining sustainable Human Centered Design (HCD).

• SDG Link: A description of HCD as it relates to UN Sustainable Development Goals in the students' own words.

• Universal Design: Evaluation of the project based on universal design principles.

• Success/Failure Analysis: Honest description of how the project succeeded or failed in being human-centered.

• HCD Challenges: Identification of challenges in reaching HCD solutions and recommendations for overcoming them.

Summary of Submission Requirements

• Deadline (Presentations): Thursday, $11$ June $2026$ at $18:00$.

• Deadline (All Submissions): Friday, $12$ June $2026$ at $18:00$.

• Group Requirements:

  • Completed Group PowerPoint Template.

  • One public Miro Project.

  • Two forms of research.

  • Point of View statement, ideation evidence, and medium-high fidelity prototype.

  • User testing evidence and further development suggestions.

• Individual Requirements:

  • Completed PowerPoint PoE Template including documentation of daily engagement and individual contributions.

Assessment Strategy: Individual Assessment

Total Individual Marks: $/30$

• a. Portfolio of Evidence (PoE): Individual contribution to research, ideation, prototyping, and CS engagement. (Mark: $/10$)

• b. Attendance Rate: Documented in registers. (Mark: $/10$)

  • Above $75\% = 8$

  • $60$–$75\% = 6$

  • $40$–$59\% = 4$

  • Below $39\% = 0$

• c. Peer Review: Rating by classmates. (Mark: $/10$)

  • Worked really hard $= 8$

  • Did what was needed $= 6$

  • Did little work $= 4$

  • Did nothing $= 0$

Assessment Strategy: Group Critical Studies

Total CS Marks: $/110$

• a. Technical Execution: Correct structure, academic style, formatting, referencing, and inclusion of a direct quote on sustainable HCD. (Mark: $/20$)

• b. HCD Description: Clear, relevant description from a credible source. (Mark: $/20$)

• c. HCD and SDGs: Definition in own words, understandable and fair. (Mark: $/30$)

• d. HCD Challenges: Identification of challenges and providing at least one recommendation. (Mark: $/20$)

• e. Universal Design: Critical evaluation of deliverables against Universal Design Principles. (Mark: $/20$)

Assessment Strategy: Group Design, Communication & Technical

Design Subtotal: $/50$

• merit of the selected opportunity for bee industry/sustainability goals. (Mark: $/10$)

• Range/Relevance of research. (Mark: $/10$)

• Engagement in the design thinking process. (Mark: $/10$)

• Investigation and development through testing. (Mark: $/10$)

• Feasibility of the final iteration. (Mark: $/10$)

Communication Subtotal: $/30$

• Skill level of visual investigations/iterations (2D/3D). (Mark: $/10$)

• Quality of final images (photography/graphics). (Mark: $/10$)

• Effectiveness of visual and verbal communication. (Mark: $/10$)

• Technical & Professional Practice Subtotal: $/20$

• Technical feasibility of the final design. (Mark: $/10$)

• Research and understanding of technical requirements. (Mark: $/10$)

Final Mark Calculation and Administrative Notes

• CS Mark: Based on the group presentation.

• Design, Communication & Tech Marks: Calculated as an average of the individual and group mark only if the student passes the individual assessment.

• Individual Failure Impact: If a student fails the individual assessment (must pass at least $2$ of $3$ sub-opportunities and have a passing average), their Design, Communication, and Tech marks equal the individual mark only. They do not get the group mark benefit.

• Results Notification: Submissions are posted as symbols on college notice boards. Detailed marking schedules are not provided.

• Point of Contact: Queries are directed to Ivor Templer.

Prescribed and Recommended Reading List

Prescribed Texts:

• IDEO Design Kit ($2016$). The Field Guide to Human Centered Design.

• Resnick, E. (Ed.) ($2019$). The Social Design Reader. Bloomsbury Publishing.

• Vezzoli, C., Ceschin, F., Osanjo, L., et al. ($2018$). Design for Sustainability: An Introduction.

Recommended Texts:

• Agyeman, C. ($2019$). Why People Should Be at the Heart of Sustainability Goals. GreenBiz.

• Bacallo, J. ($2020$). Storytelling and Human-Centered Curriculum Design for SDGs. UN SDGs.

• Cooke, F. L., Dickmann, M., & Parry, E. ($2022$). Building Sustainable Societies Through Human-Centered HRM. The International Journal of Human Resource Management.

• Campo, S., Gatti, E., & Malan, J. L. ($2016$). Human-Centred Design: Accelerating Results for Every Child by Design. UNICEF.

• Kunkeyani, S. ($2018$). Achieving the SDGs Through Incorporation of Human-Centered Design. CORPSAFRICA.

• Shane, K. ($2015$). Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. ALT.Q.

• Schulz, A., et al. ($2022$). Towards the UN's SDGs: Conservation Technology for Design Teaching and Learning. ASEE Southeastern Section.