Affiliation
Institute of Design
Inhabitants, service providers, political leaders, civil society organisations and professional designers all participate in designing public systems through everyday practices of inquiry, negotiation, improvisation and experimentation. However, people’s possibilities to take part and influence the outcomes of these processes differ. We investigate how the ongoing designing of public systems can become more equitable and democratic, and how professional design practices can contribute to these efforts.
Building on Nordic traditions of service, systemic, strategic and participatory design, our research pursues three connected objectives. First, we explore how the experiences of those affected can inform collective inquiry and experimentation, with particular attention to people excluded from shaping public systems today. Second, we investigate how experimentation can reshape the norms, policies, power relations and infrastructures that organize public services. Third, we develop knowledge about the relationships, resources and spaces for learning that sustain collective redesign as social conditions change.
Our practice-based research takes place primarily within Scandinavian healthcare, welfare, social services, public administration and communities. Working with people in these settings, we investigate shared concerns, try out alternative ways of doing things together and learn from their consequences. We also examine professional design’s role in these processes: whose knowledge it recognizes, how it shapes participation and whose interests it serves.
The group connects research projects, doctoral work, education and partnerships across the Nordics. Through this work, we aim to deepen understanding of public designing and strengthen the collective capacity to continually reshape public systems in ways that advance equity, dignity and belonging for all.