ABOUT US
The social design research group was established in 2015 at the Department of Design & Communication / 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.
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
New project on sustainable energy consumption in Danish homes
It-vest grant to new collaborative project with the company EWII The Social Design Unit is engaged in a new externally funded 1-year educational project, in which SDU students [...]
Social Design Unit at the Design Research Society Conference
Conference track on social design The Social Design Unit will be going to Bilbao at the end of June to present new work and chair Track 14 on [...]
Social Design Symposium at Chelsea College of Art from May 18-19
Symposium on Practice research in social design In an era of growing uncertainty, social design can play a central role in addressing the serious challenges of our troubled [...]
Design Fiction and Speculative Futures in the Time of Energy Crisis
Design fiction crash course at POLIMI Two weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we gave a course on design fiction presenting more than 20 talented students at Politecnico [...]
Thomas Markussen
thma@sdu.dk +45 93507196
Eva Knutz
evak@sdu.dk+45 93507135
University of Southern Denmark
Department for Design and Communication
Universitetsparken 1
6000 Kolding, Denmark
