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
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 di Milano’s Service Design Master education with the following speculative scenario: What if Russia invaded Ukraine to conquer energy sources and, at [...]
Future proposals for green digital consumption
Co-designing Sustainable Domestic Technologies Did you know that the 5 apps running in the background of your smart phone equal the CO2 emission of a gasoline-fueled car driving 500 km? Danes’ domestic use of IT have led to a significant increase in energy consumption, which often remains invisible to people. [...]
EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager visit to SDU Kolding
Social Design Unit presents work for EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager Friday the 5th of November, the Social Design Unit presented work on Patient Empowerment, for Executive Vice-President and EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and local politicians. Vestager is setting the strategic direction of the political priority "Europe Fit for the Digital [...]
Innovation prize 2021
Social Design Unit awarded SDU's Innovation Prize 2021! Friday the 29th of October, the Social Design Unit were awarded SDU’s prestigious Innovation Prize 2021, for our work on designing new initiatives for prisons and hospitals that can improve conditions for prisoner children and help cancer patients’ cope with life threatening [...]
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
