Global Collaborative Design Practice University of the Arts London (UAL)

Overview

The Global Collaborative Design Practice at the University of the Arts London (UAL) is a 2-year course that brings together 2 cohorts of students: 1 based at Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London (UAL) in the UK and the other at Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT) in Japan.  Each cohort will study in-person at the partnering university for a certain period of their course.

You’ll develop creative responses to core themes and questions that underpin the course, such as:   

• How can we interpret shared global challenges in distinct locations and address them practically and/or speculatively together?   

• How can relationality and communication principles, empathy and inventiveness help bridge cultures and enable collaborative process? 

• How can we develop design prototyping, mapping and visualisation as non-textual languages for sharing and iterating ideas and interventions in global challenges? 

• How can practice expand its reach beyond the creative industries, in trans-disciplinary, cross-sectoral responses to societal challenges?

What to expect 

• Dual location: As a student on the course, you’ll spend time in both London and Kyoto. 

• Learn about: Systems-oriented design, collaborative design practice, material making practices, prototyping, mapping, storytelling and the relationship between society and design. 

• A collaborative approach: All learning on the course is collaborative including your major design project. You’ll collaborate with your fellow students in cross-cultural teams and work with external parties on live and speculative projects. 

• Multi and trans-disciplinarity: Students come from a wide range of design and non-design backgrounds including fields such as the sciences, engineering and humanities and co-create shared understandings of problems and approaches.  

• The design process: This will be used as a meeting point and shared working language between different skills and viewpoints.

• An ethical focus: We have a responsibility to contribute towards a better and more sustainable world. Throughout your course, you'll explore climate, social and racial justice and learn how to embed these principles into your creative practice.  

• Teaching: The course is led and assessed by staff teaching teams at UAL and KIT.