DISCOURSE ON THE INTERDISCIPLINARY DANCE FLOOR

This paper reports on the Designing for the 21st Century Initiative, a five-year programme of research supported by the UK’s Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). With a budget of £6.5 million the Initiative aims to build a diverse research community with a common interest in stimulating new ways of design thinking to meet the challenges of designing for 21st century society.

In March 2004 the initiative’s first research call was announced, to fund cross-disciplinary networking activities through the formation of research clusters. During 2005 twenty-one research clusters were supported, each organised a series of workshops, seminars and meetings to support the development of new research relationships and understanding. In total over 120 events were hosted, attended by over 700 academics and design practitioners.

This paper reports on the experiences of those who have been involved in running these research clusters. Each cluster has had its own subject of enquiry. Some of the clusters explored the role design might play in the new challenges that confront society, for example reducing childhood obesity; others have explored the understanding design needs to develop to tackle such emergent issues. Creating a meaningful discourse within each cluster has involved building a common understanding of the language and motivations of participants, building maps of existing knowledge and identifying issues for future research. Different approaches were taken by the 21 research clusters to achieve this. The paper explores the drivers of success associated with running research cluster projects within the design domain.

The paper will then review the new insights generated by the research clusters. The challenges being set for design are clearly expanding as the new suite of issues that confront society emerge. Whether they be in healthcare, sustainability, the globalised economy, a digital world, social inclusion and so on, design clearly has a role to play in helping society deal with these 21st Century issues. For design to make a valuable contribution new approaches are needed. Design must be designed to allow extended participation, Design must engage in new forms of thinking, Design must understand and be able to articulate its relevance. Road maps for new design discipline development are needed.

Finally the paper reports on the second phase of research projects that are being supported by the Initiative. These will run from January 2007 through to 2009.