Design for Social Innovation and Sustainable Futures

Overview

The MA Design for Social Innovation and Sustainable Futures course at University of the Arts London (UAL) has been established as a collaborative, creative and generative studio for designers interested in working with complex global issues.

The course will explore the future of design practice and its interdependency with humanitarian and ecological concerns. Whether you are a graphic designer, systems designers, animator, filmmaker or architect, you will be invited to explore and question your design discipline in relation to the global systems you inhabit. Looking at the environment, materiality, empathy, ethics and responsibility within broad and dynamic socio-cultural, economic and political contexts. It is both a practical and thoughtful course with an emphasis on innovative practice, collective action, plurality and real-world change.

The MA will culminate in a final ‘Design in Action’, creating demonstrable eco-social impact.

What can you expect?

You will work fast. You will work slow. You will think deeply. You will make quickly. You might fail periodically. You might play intensely. You should learn continuously.

This course has been designed using principles from human-centered design, building on the concept of humanity-centered design. You will delve deeply into research methodologies, prototyping and experimentation, ideation, service design and systems thinking. 

Through various forms of collaboration inside and outside the university, you will learn to connect, frame, re-imagine and build for more sustainable futures. You will be exposed to different theories in social innovation and sustainable practice. You will be invited to critique these and build your own knowledge.

You’ll be given opportunities to participate in a diverse range of experiences including workshops, presentations, exhibitions, symposia, knowledge exchange and skills sharing. The course has been designed to be designed. All students involved will be shape-shifting this course through their own critical and practical work.

The Design School at London College of Communication believes in ‘design as the site of action and agency to radically transform our world’. This course will be putting thinking into practice, giving you the chance to make real social impact through a Final Project.

Who is this course for? 

• Students who care about the world they inhabit. Who make work with purpose and intent. Enthusiastic, collaborative and responsive designers who want to concentrate their practice on working as agents of positive change. 
• Students curious about both the systematic power of design in shaping the future, and the limitations, ethics and critical dialogue around social innovation practices.
• Students with a creative background and with practical design experience. Able to take initiative, try things out, take risks, disrupt, put their values into practice, and lead through uncertainty.
• Students who want to work with people who are not the same as them. Able to create productive ecosystems of collective action. Able to cross boundaries of discipline, experience, identity and believes.