De Montfort University, Leicester (DMU) has earned national recognition for embedding sustainability across its design curriculum.
The university’s School of Design Innovation is the first in the East Midlands to achieve recognition under the Design Council’s national ‘Skills for Planet Blueprint’, a framework that acknowledges universities integrating sustainability into design education.
The framework helps universities equip future designers with the skills to tackle climate change and protect the environment. It focuses on systems thinking, circular design, material use, climate literacy, ethics, and community-centred design.
Starting in September 2026, School of Design Innovation’s courses will include these sustainability skills in teaching and assessment. While each course will apply the framework differently, all graduates will gain the green skills to design for a circular, regenerative, and climate-resilient future.
Professor Carolyn Hardaker, Head of the School of Design Innovation at DMU, said: "I am delighted that the School of Design Innovation has been endorsed by the Design Council.
“It recognises our leadership in design education and our ambition to equip graduates with the regenerative skills needed to make a positive environmental impact in their future careers.”
Stuart Lawson, Deputy Head of the School added: “We are delighted to be able to say DMU is now officially recognised as a Skills for Planet University.
“We are also proud to be named as the East Midlands Regional Champion for the Blueprint, through which the School will support wider adoption and collaboration between universities across the region.”
The Design Council praised DMU for the “rigour and thoroughness” of its submission for the endorsement, highlighting how sustainability is built into every level of study .
By embedding these skills across its courses, DMU is helping support the UK-wide goal to ‘upskill one million designers by 2030’.
This new recognition highlights DMU as a national leader in sustainable design education, building on other sustainability initiatives across the university and preparing the next generation of designers to tackle environmental and social challenges locally and globally.
Posted on Monday 23 March 2026