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Research group

Social Design Unit

How can social design enable sustainable transitions in society and allow people to engage in constructive and action-oriented research to mitigate deficiencies in their lives?

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About Social Design Unit

Social Design Unit carries out collaborative research projects with the public sector, private and non-profit organisations.

The core interest lies in reducing unsustainable living and marginalisation in society, which is condensed into the following research areas: 

  • Vulnerable Youth 
  • Patient Empowerment  
  • Design for Family-friendly Prisons 
  • Citizen Participation in Public Space 
  • Design fiction and Design Futuring 

Founded in 2015 by Eva Knutz and Thomas Markussen, the Social Design Unit is a platform-based research group. 

The core philosophy is that research is inherently a collective effort relying on relations, sharing of control and responsibility among researchers, experts, practitioners and the people we design for.

This is also reflected in the co-leadership of the unit which is inspired by history: In the ancient Roman republic, co-leadership proved successful for more than 400 years, and nowadays it is praised, in the cultural sector, for spurring creativity, diversity and inclusion.

Collaboration

The Social Design Unit welcomes invitations to participate in research collaboration, educational activities and public events.

At this moment the unit is partnering with actors from a range of sectors in society, funding bodies, artists, activists and citizen groups, in Denmark as well as abroad.