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ABSTRACT : This paper, part of a Ph.D. in Design research, focused on discussing the role of Design Education on training future designers to be actors of change. It describes the methodology of a workshop for design students during the Design Week of Mérida, at Universidad de Extremadura – Spain. The workshop discussed the point of view of students in problem-solving, and what they believe to be the skills, methods, and partnerships for design to achieve such a change in its approach and how Design Education plays a part in preparing the future genera_on of designers to tackle social innovation and sustainability problems. The results showed how these particular group of future designers see as crucial in the given context and the possibilities for improvement on a system that struggles to be resilient and respond at a faster pace.

ABSTRACT: Proposed paper is a part of the ongoing PhD research in design with focus on the research of existing environmental and social requirements for the sustainable innovation within urban sanita_on, focused on toilet design. Main questions of the research are aiming the Portuguese environment, where we are characterizing aspects of water and sanita_on through the five dimensions - culture, technology, government, economy, and environment. In this paper the main objective is to determine systemic characteristics of the socio-cultural dimension of water and sanitation, which will be later incorporated in writien final guidelines – directives raised from the research results which shall serve as operational knowledge for the ones involved in the implementation of the sustainable toilet innovation. The paper as well serves as theoretical orientation for the practical applications of the research.

ABSTRACT : The circular economy is a new strategic concept to meet society's needs in a more efficient and sustainable manner based in decoupling the economic growth and welfare from the increase in the consumption of natural resources. It implies the transition from the traditional linear model to a more innovative and circular approach in the development of the economy by designing new products, new services, and new systems, supported, in most cases, by the re-thinking and creation of new business models. Designers and product developers have an important and crucial role to achieve a successful and wide implementation of the concept which has to be accepted and applied in practice by businesses along the whole value chain and meet the current and future needs of consumers and the society. Currently, several methods, principles, practices, tools, training initiatives, and many resources are being developed globally as a result of the wide exploitation of the concept, but there is still a large gap between what is available to companies and designers, and what is applied in practice on product and service development. This paper reflects part of the PhD research project under development by the authors which is based on the promotion of the design practice within Circular Economy. It explores the results of the review of circularity tools available that can be used by design professionals to systematize and guide their development process. The analysis will support the development of a toolkit and guidelines oriented for the practical implementation of the circular economy in the development of innovative and efficient products and services. (Camocho, Ferreira, & Vicente, 2018).