ABOUT US
The social design research group was established in 2015 at the Department of Design, Media and Educational Science / SDU
The social design research group was established in 2015 at the Department of Design, Media and Educational Science / SDU
The group has a keen interest in how people can be involved in participatory design processes leading to social value for the individual and society at large. By social value, we refer to changes at a human scale that is felt to be beneficial for marginalised or vulnerable societal groups and communities.
The group has a keen interest in how people can be involved in participatory design processes leading to social value for the individual and society at large. By social value, we refer to changes at a human scale that is felt to be beneficial for marginalised or vulnerable societal groups and communities.
Design research practice is essential for our work
We use design methods to make sense of wicked problems, as a way of engaging and co-designing with people and as a process of making artefacts or services enabling people to cope with difficult situations in life.
Through a number of research projects we have documented our ability to evaluate social design outcomes by bridging disciplines from the human and social sciences.
RESEARCH AREAS
In our social design unit we are concerned with the urgent societal need for rethinking core services of the Scandinavian and European welfare states. In particular, our research projects lies within the following four areas:
NEWS
Upcoming Anticipation PhD Summer School in Milan, June 29-30
Upcoming Anticipation PhD Summer School in Milan, June 29-30 Eva Knutz and Thomas Markussen from the Social Design Unit have co-organised the PhD Summer School, ahead of the Anticipation Conference 2026 at Politecnico di Milano, together with Manuela Celi, Marzia Mortati and Victoria Rodriguez Schon. During the Summer School doctoral [...]
Social Design Unit at the 2026 Design Research Society conference
Social Design Unit at the 2026 Design Research Society conference Kirstine Neimann Skov and Ilma Stankeviciute from the Social Design Unit present work at the DRS conference in Edinburg. Kirstine presented insights on how non-verbal creative modalities, materiality and co-design can help grief practitioners to support children in their coping [...]
Social Design Unit participates in the 2026 Participatory Design conference
Social Design Unit participates in the 2026 Participatory Design conference Ilma Stankeviciute from the Social Design Unit presents the paper “Participatory Workshops in Design for Transitions as Affordances for Desired Futures” at the PDC conference in Milan. In the paper Ilma shows that Transition Design’s discourse is largely focused on [...]
Social Design Unit invited to present work at the PDC Place seminar
Social Design Unit invited to present work at the PDC Place seminar PDC Place 2026, is a half-day seminar and workshop hosted by the Service Design Lab at Aalborg University, Copenhagen, as part of the Participatory Design Conference (PDC) 2026. The theme of the event is Broadening Participation. The seminar [...]
Thomas Markussen
thma@sdu.dk
+45 93507196
Eva Knutz
evak@sdu.dk
+45 93507135
University of Southern Denmark
Department of Design, Media and Educational Science
Universitetsparken 1
6000 Kolding, Denmark
