The Strategic Role of Design in Supporting Knowledge Exchange

Within the last decade design has had a strategic role in tackling escalating environmental, social and economic problems. Through design thinking, creative methods have been applied to problem solving in a process of collaboration and designers working in new territories and knowledge domains. As the designer has moved further afield the method of Knowledge Exchange (KE) has become more recognised as a democratic approach to collaboration with the ethos that everyone has something creative and productive to offer. This paper provides reflections on early stage findings from a strategic design innovation process in which collaborative partnerships between academics, SMEs and designers emerged through KE and suggests that there is value to be had from using design strategically for not only those from a business or academic background but also for those from the design community and points to a need for more training for designers from all disciplines in how to use design strategically

Design and Policy:Current debates and future directions for research in the UK

I have a one page overview offering a perspective on design policy within a new report produced by the Design|Policy Research Network led by University of the Arts London and University of Manchester, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), showcases the significant role of design in shaping public policy and proposes an agenda for the future direction of research in the UK.The UK is a leader in the use of design in government and policy and there is a growing range of practice and research connecting design and public policymaking – such as service design, interaction design, communication design, urban design, and strategic design and the emerging fields of policy design and ‘design for policy’.Over an 18-month period, the collaborative, cross-disciplinary research network organised workshops and engagement sessions to consolidate and better articulate the emerging relations between research and practice in design and public policy processes producing a novel, evidence-based and contextual understanding of the potential for design in relation to policy. Network leads Professor Lucy Kimbell (Central Saint Martins, UAL) and Professor Liz Richardson (Department of Politics, University of Manchester) worked closely with the cross-government Policy Design Community, which includes over 75 local and central government organisations and over 500 individual members, to engage officials in the network’s activities.The organisers engaged several hundred people including policy makers in central and local government, design consultants alongside academics and doctoral students working across design and policy studies, including setting up a new LinkedIn group with over 700 members.The report outlines directions for future research and makes recommendations for those involved in research, knowledge exchange and policy ecosystems including UKRI and the Civil Service, to advance knowledge at the intersection between design and policymaking. It also includes the voices of 10 early career and established researchers whose practice and research engages across the contexts of policy making, including UAL doctoral student Daniella Jenkins (Central Saint Martins), developing feminist pensions policy, and Dr Lara Salinas (London College of Communication), who works with local government to support collaboration to address net zero.Co-authored by Professor Kimbell and Professor Richardson with Catherine Durose, Professor of Public Policy and Co-Director of the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at the University of Liverpool and Ramia Mazé, Professor of Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability at London College of Communication, this report sets out a clear vision to underpin the further development of design in government and public policy.full citation: Kimbell, L., Durose, C., Mazé, R. and Richardson, L. (2023) Design and Policy: Current Debates and Future Directions for Research in the UK: Report of the AHRC Design|Policy Research Network. London: University of the Arts LondonISBN: 978-1-3999-7069-

Design and Policy:Current debates and future directions for research in the UK

I have a one page overview offering a perspective on design policy within a new report produced by the Design|Policy Research Network led by University of the Arts London and University of Manchester, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), showcases the significant role of design in shaping public policy and proposes an agenda for the future direction of research in the UK.The UK is a leader in the use of design in government and policy and there is a growing range of practice and research connecting design and public policymaking – such as service design, interaction design, communication design, urban design, and strategic design and the emerging fields of policy design and ‘design for policy’.Over an 18-month period, the collaborative, cross-disciplinary research network organised workshops and engagement sessions to consolidate and better articulate the emerging relations between research and practice in design and public policy processes producing a novel, evidence-based and contextual understanding of the potential for design in relation to policy. Network leads Professor Lucy Kimbell (Central Saint Martins, UAL) and Professor Liz Richardson (Department of Politics, University of Manchester) worked closely with the cross-government Policy Design Community, which includes over 75 local and central government organisations and over 500 individual members, to engage officials in the network’s activities.The organisers engaged several hundred people including policy makers in central and local government, design consultants alongside academics and doctoral students working across design and policy studies, including setting up a new LinkedIn group with over 700 members.The report outlines directions for future research and makes recommendations for those involved in research, knowledge exchange and policy ecosystems including UKRI and the Civil Service, to advance knowledge at the intersection between design and policymaking. It also includes the voices of 10 early career and established researchers whose practice and research engages across the contexts of policy making, including UAL doctoral student Daniella Jenkins (Central Saint Martins), developing feminist pensions policy, and Dr Lara Salinas (London College of Communication), who works with local government to support collaboration to address net zero.Co-authored by Professor Kimbell and Professor Richardson with Catherine Durose, Professor of Public Policy and Co-Director of the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at the University of Liverpool and Ramia Mazé, Professor of Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability at London College of Communication, this report sets out a clear vision to underpin the further development of design in government and public policy.full citation: Kimbell, L., Durose, C., Mazé, R. and Richardson, L. (2023) Design and Policy: Current Debates and Future Directions for Research in the UK: Report of the AHRC Design|Policy Research Network. London: University of the Arts LondonISBN: 978-1-3999-7069-

Design Thinking for Textiles:let’s make it meaningful

The values underpinning the global textile industry are continuing to transform because of globalisation, sustainability and technological progress. This is enabled by the changes within the discipline of design itself, through the impact of design thinking on business management and leadership (Cooper et al, 2015), a move towards co-creation rather than individual authorship (Sanders, 2013; Sanders and Stappers, 2014), smart technologies (Taylor and Robertson, 2014), and greater attention to how we meet today’s social needs through design (Thackera, 2013; Manzini, 2015). This paper is concerned with the impact of transformation upon the role of the textile designer and design educator. Discussion draws on recent design research in Smart Textiles, E-Co Textiles and the sustainability agenda, future craft and designer’s thinking, revealing a set of values underpinning the contemporary craft of textile design, facilitating a conversation as to how they relate to the active concept of authenticity.</p

Design for Scotland:scoping a national design strategy / policy.

The planet is at a critical moment, as we all look to proactively address the climate crisis, the transition to net zero, as our public finances face ever-increasing challenges, and as we work to make the case for the critical role of creativity in a just and thriving society.Design shapes almost all aspects of our lives and access to good design should be equal for all. Good design remains a largely untapped resource.Design for Scotland is a project seeking to explore how to develop a strategic and focused approach to supporting design nationally. It will do this by undertaking research and developing an engagement programme with partners and the design sector.V&amp;A Dundee is leading the project with support from the UNESCO City of Design Dundee team. They ran an open call to commission this independent research. This project is supported and funded by Creative Scotland through National Lottery Funds. Key stakeholders are the Scottish Government and the national enterprise agencies.Through an open call, 36 individuals from across Scotland were recruited to form a working group. The applications were anonymised, and a selection criterion pre-defined to ensure broad representation of those working at different career stages, backgrounds and across different sub-sectors under the design umbrella. This group have had an integral role in sharing reflections on the current landscape of design in Scotland and in shaping scenarios which explore how design can thrive within and contribute to a future Scotland.Further feedback was sought from across the design community through an online interactive questionnaire

100 YEARS OF SPECULATIVE WOMEN’S HEALTHCARE

Women comprise more than half the world’s population (United Nations, 2023), yet historically, the world has been designed for and by men (Perez, 2019), frequently neglecting women’s needs and perspectives. Women experience disproportionate health inequalities, there is less funding to tackle illnesses that are more prevalent in women and a lack of research focusing on improving women’s health (Galea and Parekh, 2023; White and Clayton, 2022). There is an urgent need for a greater understanding of women’s health throughout their lives (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2023), moving beyond a focus on just reproductive and maternal health. T his timeline aims to consider the potential lifespan of a woman born in 2024, for their 100 years of care and beyond, forming a speculative tool for designers, researchers and policymakers. Two sections of the timeline ‘caring’ and ‘being cared for’ intersect at points showing the close relationship between them. This timeline advocates and speculates for a broader understanding of feminism in design, going beyond the consideration of who is involved to focus on the how and why of design. This aligns with feminist activism expanding upon Place (2023), transforming existing structures to promote equality and inclusivity and centring feminist ways of knowing and doing within the design process. The term women in the context of ‘women’s health’ is inclusive of both sex as a biological variable and gender as a social variable across the life course and people assigned female at birth, transgender women, transgender men, and non-binary people’, as defined by experts for the Women’s Health Innovation Map (2023). The timeline prompts thoughts on: • The School of Care—inspiring women in/through healthcare to create leaders and researchers in women’s care, whilst fostering care in society. • A culture of care at work, supporting ‘Squiggly careers’ (Tupper, H. and Ellis, S, 2020) to work and fit around life events, skill development to encourage flexibility, trust, autonomy, nurturing women’s wellbeing and respond to needs including menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause and mental health. • A culture of care for women in society—no judgements on life/relationship choices, equalising the care system to alleviate and share emotional and hidden labour and inclusive access to care activities for all, not just the privileged. • Addressing ‘sandwich care’ challenges (caring for children and parents), including the care idea of paying care forward through #carency and support to adopt children as an equal choice. • Vital monitor from birth to check vitals (e.g. glucose levels, hormones, stages of life and allergies), reducing screening. • Caring choices in society—Alternative hobby choices from an early age to introduce young women to leadership, care, creativity and equality. Expanded education/work/life choices for a supportive society that creates change makers for the next iteration of our planet, healthy living environments, including ‘blue zones’. • Celebrating through all life stages—renaming menopause, celebrating older women and increasing their visibility. Pay it forward #carency pairs the older generation with younger carers taking on this role to build #carency for themselves in later life. • (Not) the end of life care—How can we prepare memories and extend our identity before and after death echoing ‘Ongoingness’ (Wallace and Josh, 2022)

100 YEARS OF SPECULATIVE WOMEN’S HEALTHCARE

Women comprise more than half the world’s population (United Nations, 2023), yet historically, the world has been designed for and by men (Perez, 2019), frequently neglecting women’s needs and perspectives. Women experience disproportionate health inequalities, there is less funding to tackle illnesses that are more prevalent in women and a lack of research focusing on improving women’s health (Galea and Parekh, 2023; White and Clayton, 2022). There is an urgent need for a greater understanding of women’s health throughout their lives (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2023), moving beyond a focus on just reproductive and maternal health. T his timeline aims to consider the potential lifespan of a woman born in 2024, for their 100 years of care and beyond, forming a speculative tool for designers, researchers and policymakers. Two sections of the timeline ‘caring’ and ‘being cared for’ intersect at points showing the close relationship between them. This timeline advocates and speculates for a broader understanding of feminism in design, going beyond the consideration of who is involved to focus on the how and why of design. This aligns with feminist activism expanding upon Place (2023), transforming existing structures to promote equality and inclusivity and centring feminist ways of knowing and doing within the design process. The term women in the context of ‘women’s health’ is inclusive of both sex as a biological variable and gender as a social variable across the life course and people assigned female at birth, transgender women, transgender men, and non-binary people’, as defined by experts for the Women’s Health Innovation Map (2023). The timeline prompts thoughts on: • The School of Care—inspiring women in/through healthcare to create leaders and researchers in women’s care, whilst fostering care in society. • A culture of care at work, supporting ‘Squiggly careers’ (Tupper, H. and Ellis, S, 2020) to work and fit around life events, skill development to encourage flexibility, trust, autonomy, nurturing women’s wellbeing and respond to needs including menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause and mental health. • A culture of care for women in society—no judgements on life/relationship choices, equalising the care system to alleviate and share emotional and hidden labour and inclusive access to care activities for all, not just the privileged. • Addressing ‘sandwich care’ challenges (caring for children and parents), including the care idea of paying care forward through #carency and support to adopt children as an equal choice. • Vital monitor from birth to check vitals (e.g. glucose levels, hormones, stages of life and allergies), reducing screening. • Caring choices in society—Alternative hobby choices from an early age to introduce young women to leadership, care, creativity and equality. Expanded education/work/life choices for a supportive society that creates change makers for the next iteration of our planet, healthy living environments, including ‘blue zones’. • Celebrating through all life stages—renaming menopause, celebrating older women and increasing their visibility. Pay it forward #carency pairs the older generation with younger carers taking on this role to build #carency for themselves in later life. • (Not) the end of life care—How can we prepare memories and extend our identity before and after death echoing ‘Ongoingness’ (Wallace and Josh, 2022)

Design for Scotland:scoping a national design strategy / policy.

The planet is at a critical moment, as we all look to proactively address the climate crisis, the transition to net zero, as our public finances face ever-increasing challenges, and as we work to make the case for the critical role of creativity in a just and thriving society.Design shapes almost all aspects of our lives and access to good design should be equal for all. Good design remains a largely untapped resource.Design for Scotland is a project seeking to explore how to develop a strategic and focused approach to supporting design nationally. It will do this by undertaking research and developing an engagement programme with partners and the design sector.V&amp;A Dundee is leading the project with support from the UNESCO City of Design Dundee team. They ran an open call to commission this independent research. This project is supported and funded by Creative Scotland through National Lottery Funds. Key stakeholders are the Scottish Government and the national enterprise agencies.Through an open call, 36 individuals from across Scotland were recruited to form a working group. The applications were anonymised, and a selection criterion pre-defined to ensure broad representation of those working at different career stages, backgrounds and across different sub-sectors under the design umbrella. This group have had an integral role in sharing reflections on the current landscape of design in Scotland and in shaping scenarios which explore how design can thrive within and contribute to a future Scotland.Further feedback was sought from across the design community through an online interactive questionnaire

Prototyping Collective Leadership:Designing the Future of Scotland's Design Sector through a Design Futures Approach.

Whether there should be a national design policy or strategy in Scotland has been a subject of discussion by several initiatives led by academics, industry and public sector bodies since 2014. However, without structural support, or a sustainable mechanism for involving design sector representatives in developing a national approach to design, there was a lack of capacity to progress priorities.In response to these challenges, V&amp;A Dundee (Scotland's Design Museum) expanded its role in 2021 to become Scotland's National Center for design, thereby catalysing the 'Design for Scotland' initiative: the first stage of which was an independent research project to explore strategies for strengthening the design sector and potentially developing a national design policy.This paper presents findings from this independent research conducted on behalf of V&amp;A Dundee and led by a consortium of consultancies: Graft Design and Innovation Management Ltd., Studio Andthen Ltd. and how2glu Ltd; and funded by Creative Scotland (the national agency that supports arts, screen and creative industries). It involved engaging stakeholders through various activities using a Design Futures approach, including envisioning future scenarios for Scottish design and soliciting input through interactive gamified surveys. These efforts sought to foster dialogue and identify key priorities within the sector.Our findings underscore the significance of adopting a Design Futures approach and highlight the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders. In the absence of a designated National Design Agency, our research emphasizes the need for collective leadership to shape the trajectory of the sector, drawing inspiration from successful models in other European countries to forge a distinctive approach for Scotland.This paper provides a glimpse into our research efforts and invites further discussion on the role of collective leadership in advancing national design efforts; including the potential contribution and limitations of a Design Futures approach to enabling conversations about the future of design easier to engage with and shape