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.

In order to secure meaningful implementation of our design, we work with organisations within the public and private sector from the earliest developmental phases.

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

The Social Design Unit goes to Parsons School of Design/The New School

The Social Design Unit goes to Parsons School of Design/The New School Date: November 11, 2022 How can socially responsive design practice become a practice of care? What does it require of a designer to engage with vulnerable groups? How do we go beyond framing vulnerability within the context [...]

It-vest grant to new collaborative project with the company EWII

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 will collaborative with the Danish energy and fibernet provider EWII. The goal is to increase knowledge of how interaction and social [...]

Social Design Unit at the Design Research Society Conference

Social Design Unit at the Design Research Society Conference The Social Design Unit will be going to Bilbao at the end of June to present new work and chair Track 14 on Practice research in social design as a form of inquiry at the DRS conference. It has been [...]

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 societies. But what are the new ideas and knowledge that social design has to offer? What changes can be expected of the [...]

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