Sustainable development and creative thinking have become central aspects of Higher Education in today’s
multi-disciplinary world. By considering the balance between learning and teaching priorities, the Design Academy,
Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and School of Design, Jiangnan University incorporate the author’s newly evolved teaching
methodology — 3A: ’ Acknowledgement, Action and Accountability’ model of sustainable development and
creativity — into its taught programs at all levels. The 3A model is a formative learning method for building capability
of individuals to create changes toward sustainable development. This paper first defines the 3A design teaching
process in the context of sustainability and sustainable development. Acknowledgment is the appreciation and
recognition of the importance and quality of sustainability in the face of global challenges, with a particular focus on
team effort, co-design and sharing findings and practices. Action is the establishment of design strategic and action
plans that consider not only the importance of intents, goals, affordable and reachable resources, but also a clear
roadmap for achieving maximum efficiency when tackling the most challenging tasks. Accountability deals with the
growing understanding of the benefits of working together to tackle global challenges such as Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) practices. Based on evidences from the feedback and evaluations of action research, the research
team plans to further refine the 3A design teaching methodology and create a model that can be implemented and
scaled effectively with collaborative partners from community, business and local government.

Authors: Yanyan Lam, Shengfeng Duan