Emily Carr University of Art + Design

Dates: January 19 – April 13, 2022
Application Deadline: 5 PM on Tuesday, November 30, 2021

For the full call and how to apply, please visit Artswork.

Emily Carr’s Living Labs is seeking qualified undergraduate and graduate students to engage in design research with small teams at partner companies for a new research collaboration, Design for Regional Resilience. This is an opportunity to gain hands-on experience within an applied learning setting and to establish relationships with businesses working to shift toward a circular approach. These positions are for 15 hours/week and paid at current Emily Carr Student Pay Rates (For Undergraduates: Level II / Grad Rate).

Design for Regional Resilience is an IRAP-funded research collaboration with BC-based companies actively engaged in localized circular economies, in areas including sustainable waste management, food, distribution, deconstruction, manufacturing and production, and urban agriculture.

Research Assistants will be paired with partner companies and will work directly with design and business leads on-site or remotely, supported through weekly meetings with faculty lead Sarah Hay and the DRR peer group. 

Applicants should have a keen interest in sustainability and urban systems, systems transformation and practical applications of the circular economy. They may bring skill-sets from interdisciplinary design areas, including interaction, industrial, service and communication design.

Please visit Artswork for the full call.

About the Faculty Lead, Sarah Hay:

Sarah Hay (she/her) is a white settler, mother of two boys, living on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil Waututh Nations. Her creative and professional practice is rooted in design and is expressed in many different forms and dimensions. She brings two decades of experience researching and applying collaborative, strategic and speculative design methods to community engaged projects. Sarah is the founder and lead designer of Slow & Steady Design; co-director of the Vancouver Design Nerds Society; sessional faculty at Emily Carr University of Art + Design; and visiting faculty at Simon Fraser University. 

At Emily Carr, Sarah teaches courses in industrial and interaction design on topics such as sustainability and systems thinking, designing with nature, design for disability and inclusion, public sector innovation and professional practice. Sarah also works with the Faculty Association working toward improving faculty labour conditions within the University.

At SFU, Sarah teaches Design Thinking Methods for Engagement as part of the Dialogue and Civic Engagement Certificate Program. This intensive one day workshop explores the role of design in civic engagement and social change through an equity lens.

With the Vancouver Design Nerds, Sarah develops and leads design workshops with local organizations and the public that aim to address complex challenges while activating our collective imagination.

With Slow & Steady, Sarah designs brand identities, publications and graphics for clients working toward sustainability and serves as a design and engagement consultant to local government and nonprofit organizations.

She is looking forward to working with you to build regional resilience this spring!