More about Social Responsibility & Design

  • Print

Social Responsibility & Design is a co-created international programme for exploring the role of participatory design in improving people's lives.

With a focus on the participatory design and quality of our living environments the Social Responsibility & Design project builds upon issues of social responsibility, openness, interculturalism and diversity through widening and deepening the roles that design plays in peoples’ lives. It was inspired by Charles Landry’s report and findings "Helsinki as an Open and Intercultural City”. Social Responsibility & Design project is part of the official World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 programme.

This project will draw upon and inspire cutting edge thinking and explore the role of participatory design in advancing the quality of people’s lives. This assumes that design has a vital role to play in improving the urban living environment and make them better places to live for the local community of people.

This project will bring design practitioners, academics and a diversity of local people together through participatory workshops, exhibitions and public lectures. A new type of holistic education program will be devised from the pilot study programme conducted during the year. The project will create a long term legacy and also compliment other World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 (WDCH) events.

The Social Responsibility & Design programme aims to promote the role design can play in improving the quality and inclusiveness of public spaces and the wellbeing of urban dwellers through:

  •  enabling international knowledge transfer and the sharing of best practices
  • inspiring people to participate in improving their living environments
  • linking different aspects of design across traditional sector borders;
  • bringing together Finnish and international designers and other artists, students and local people to collaborate on issues that matter to them; and incorporating this element into the curriculum