Marco de Kretser

It was the distressing sight of a skeletal polar bear that sparked Bachelor of Design and Environmental Science student Marco de Kretser's commitment to contribute to a more sustainable world. Growing up in Auckland and attending Glendowie College, his creative aspirations were strongly encouraged by his artistic mum, a practising architect.

Marco initially enrolled in an Environmental Science and Communications degree at the University, but once he heard about the new Bachelor of Design programme and its focus on creative problem solving, he knew he'd found his path.

The Design programme is framed around the United Nation’s 17 sustainable development goals. For Semester One, Marco chose Goal 12, Responsible Consumption and Production.

“I believe it encompasses everything that is wrong with our current world. We must be responsible for how we use the finite resources that exist on this planet.”

Now in his second year, Marco tells us how he is finding both the course and almost an entire year of remote learning.

"I love how the programme is pushing me to think about global issues in the context of problem-solving rather than problem-finding.

"The programme's focus on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals was a big drawcard for me. It's not just about designing pretty things. The world already has people who are incredible at that. It needs solutions to the growing number of crises happening on our planet."

"The big one that I’m working on at the moment is called The Future of X where we undertake research into a field of design of our own choice, interview experts in the field and from that, create our own completely unique insight into the area.

"I am looking at sustainable biomimicry; it’s basically tapping into nature's evolution — 3.8 billion years of reiterations and redesigns — to inform solutions to our problems. I am less interested in using biomimicry to inspire form and material, rather looking into the different processes that make nature infinitely sustainable and how to learn from them to design systems of our own."

"The most useful thing I’ve learnt is process. We aren't just learning how to design, we are learning why to design, what to design and who to design for. It’s taking a step back and saying we must figure out why we are even doing this in the first place by making informed and considered decisions. The processes and models I am learning this year I can see myself referring back to for decades to come."

"I want to learn as much as I can about how to create the best possible solutions for the most people. The persistent theme throughout this course is the UN's sustainable development goals which, by their own design, indicate that we're not here just to produce pretty products."

"My chosen research field says a lot about that. Sustainability is a massive part of my life. I feel like I can never switch that lens off which becomes a bit tiring given the current outlook of the world.

"I would really like to design sustainable things that progressively reform what it means to be that thing and how that thing interacts with the environment around it as positively as possible."

"Absolutely. I’ve found the biggest difference since starting classes on Zoom has been our relationships with the lecturers. Ordinarily, they are up on a pedestal, commanding the room from ten metres away. This change to online learning has eliminated that distance, creating a much more intimate learning environment.

"It has become an egalitarian community, with more focus on building friendly relationships instead of feeling too dominated by the lecturer to ask questions."

“Something I didn’t expect out of this is the socialisation that occurs as a result of online learning. You're not limited to conversations with the people you sit next to in class, and I can imagine this could have benefits in the long term by being exposed to different perspectives and means of working.”