Mapping sustainable cosmetics: embedding systems thinking in pharmaceutical science education

Abstract Sustainability decisions in cosmetic formulation require students to connect chemical and product knowledge with environmental, social and economic consequences across a product’s life cycle. This study reports on the design and implementation of a systems thinking module within a final-year pharmaceutical science elective, centred on an authentic team cosmetic development project. Students completed an individual three-part assignment comprising a systems-oriented concept map extension (SOCME), identification and justification of a leverage point, and reflection on the mapping process. Analysis of 138 de-identified student records included 130 legible maps and 137 leverage-point explanations. The maps exhibited seven recurring design logics, demonstrating multiple ways of organising formulation knowledge within a wider product system. Students most often located leverage in packaging and end-of-life design or ingredient, material and feedstock selection, and commonly connected technical decisions with waste, commercial outcomes and consumer experience. A thematic analysis of the student reflections suggested that familiar formulation knowledge provided an accessible anchor, while constructing meaningful cross-subsystem relationships, selecting boundaries and managing the visual complexity of the representation were more challenging. Overall, the assignment made aspects of students’ systems thinking-oriented reasoning visible and supported consideration of sustainability as emerging from interactions across the whole product system. Earlier and iterative use of SOCMEs may strengthen their role in laboratory and formulation decision-making.