This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Committee on Design and Committee on the Environment .
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This has been an interesting thread to follow and I admire the passionate postings. In California, we have mandatory education requirements for accessibility training (5 hours every two years) for all licensed architects and the commentary was equally strong when this was enacted in 2011. On one hand, one would think that universal design is so mainstream that additional training should not be mandated, especially since the codes under refinements but not major changes. On the other hand, code officials are not funded well enough, and not always adequately trained, that architects cannot depend on the permitting or inspection process to catch some basic accessibility mistakes before they become health hazards.
Relative to sustainability, and I speak now as a Continuing Education provider with a financial stake in promoting SD courses, I can tell you that a significant percentage of people that take our building performance and sustainability courses are non-AIA members, meaning they seek out the knowledge for reasons other than satisfying mandates. They take our courses because they want to learn new skills and obtain advanced knowledge about how they can improve our built environment. We have not noticed any change in the amount of course takers since the SD requirement was sunsetted.
I believe, perhaps naively, that mandated learning is not effective - it must stem from a desire to learn, to improve one's skills, to make a greater impact in our roles as professionals. Those that want to know about sustainability will continue to seek new knowledge and insights. Those that don't believe in climate change and don't take seriously our responsibilities to future generations require a paradigm shift and much more education than anything that AIA can mandate.
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Michael Strogoff FAIA
Founder
aecKnowledge, Inc.
Mill Valley, CA
p: 415.383.7011
c: 415.717.2755
Michael@aecKnowledge.com
www.aecKnowledge.com
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