This past spring, the Graduate Program in Design at CCA became the first American academic program to join the Designers Accord. Endorsed by both the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), the Designers Accord is a coalition of 100,000 designers, educators, researchers, engineers, business consultants, and corporations who are working toward innovative and sustainable changes in design, industry, and consumer behavior.

Founded by CCA faculty member Valerie Casey, the Designers Accord is regarded in the international design community as a kind of Kyoto Protocol for designers.

Casey is also a lead designer at IDEO, where she creates socially and environmentally sustainable products, services, and business models for companies around the world. She founded the Designers Accord in January 2008, recognizing the need for a more organized effort by designers worldwide to make positive changes with respect to the environmental and social impact of design and industry.

"By adopting the Designers Accord, the Graduate Program in Design affirms its commitment to sustainability and to the sharing of knowledge and expertise with a global community of committed members representing each design discipline," says Brenda Laurel, chair of CCA's Graduate Program in Design.

Read more about the Designers Accord at www.designersaccord.org.
Read more about CCA's Graduate Program in Design at www.cca.edu/design.

About California College of the Arts

Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts (CCA) is noted for the interdisciplinarity and breadth of its programs. It offers studies in 20 undergraduate and seven graduate majors in the areas of fine arts, architecture, design, and writing. The college offers bachelor of architecture, bachelor of arts, bachelor of fine arts, master of architecture, master of arts, master of fine arts, and master of business administration degrees.

With campuses in Oakland and San Francisco, CCA currently enrolls more than 1,650 full-time students. Noted alumni include the painters Nathan Oliveira and Raymond Saunders; the ceramicists Robert Arneson, Viola Frey, and Peter Voulkos; the filmmaker Wayne Wang; the conceptual artists David Ireland and Dennis Oppenheim; and the designers Lucille Tenazas and Michael Vanderbyl. For more information about CCA, visit www.cca.edu.