Architects believe that learning the basics of their trade can help us protect our communities, writes Louise Holden

Last month Dublin got the country talking about architecture. The opening of Dundrum Town Centre, the huge shopping mall in the south of the city, had us all musing on the meaning of the word town, on the place of commerce in the community and on the future for a sleepy village now such a huge development has landed in its midst. But however much we care about architecture, very few of us get to be architects.

Only 100 degree places are available in Ireland, between University College Dublin and Dublin Institute of Technology. At least eight students apply for each place, and the points requirement is high. The University of Limerick and Waterford Institute of Technology are moving to establish schools of architecture, however, so the number of places is set to rise.

In the meantime, there is something to be said for knowing your Wren from your Rogers, your Lloyd Wright from your Libeskind. Apart from allowing us to better appreciate the functioning art forms that we live with, an awareness of architecture helps us to notice, and speak up about, developments that could affect our communities - before our town halls are razed or our sea views bungalow-blitzed.

The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland has for many years believed that we all deserve an architectural education in our school years. In 1997 it decided to seize the breathing space of transition year to create a syllabus of its own, developing the Shaping Spaces programme with Blackrock Education Centre. This year the programme goes online, so schools will be able to download the complete three-module syllabus.

Anne McNicholl, the institute's education director, hopes transition-year students will use the syllabus to develop an architectural awareness, even if they do not follow the course to the letter. "This is most definitely not just a primer for would-be architects," she says, pointing out that architecture affects everyone and draws on all disciplines, from art to maths to history.

And even though architecture is an art form, it's not like painting or sculpture: when it goes wrong it has the potential to damage the community. "A bad building has implications for those who use it and even those who walk past it every day. It also affects the environment in terms of waste management, energy use and air quality."

Students may feel that they will have little or no say in what gets built around them, but McNicholl believes people are empowered by knowledge. "Architects work with clients. When clients know what constitutes a good building they can work with the architect to achieve that. The students of today are the clients of tomorrow. They are also the citizens of tomorrow who will speak up about bad planning decisions and support the preservation and conservation of significant features of the built environment. Good architecture and a decent environment are more likely to be achieved where the community is well informed."

Shaping Spaces could easily absorb a class of interested students for a year, but teachers are encouraged to select useful modules and exercises as time allows. Each of the three modules - My Home; Neighbourhood, Village, Town, City; and Buildings through History - is made up of 10 lessons.

The programme provides lesson plans, worksheets, homework assignments and suggestions for cross-curricular projects. There are also guidelines on surveying, drawing and model-making for students who are interested in the finer details of construction and building design. (Nobody thinks they need this kind of information until faced with an estimate for a building job that seems to dwarf the work involved.)

For teachers who would rather not get into stud walls and roof construction, there are blueprints for cross-curricular projects that draw students of all abilities into the action. The community-study project, for example, involves sending teams of photographers, map-makers, investigative journalists, artists, illustrators and archaeologists into the community to compile a multilayered architectural profile of the area.

Shaping Space should benefit anyone who buys a house. It will certainly create more watchdogs for the fight against bungalow blitz. Unfortunately, it might slow down the planning process into the bargain.