Perez Ojeda, David and Kwon, Nuri (2025) Social Design Symposium 2024. Zenodo.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
The Social Design Symposium took place on 14th March 2024 in Lancaster, UK, organised by the Social Design Special Interest Group (Social Design SIG) at ImaginationLancaster, Lancaster University. The event was part of the broader Festival of Futures and aimed to foster dialogue among academics, experts, and practitioners on the values, current practices, and future directions of social design. The symposium brought together 29 participants from across the UK and other countries, representing a diverse array of backgrounds and interests in social design. The programme featured three main activities: panel discussions, a poster session, and an interactive workshop. The panels, comprising both academic researchers and practitioners, addressed three key themes: The creation of social value through design Practices for designing social change Future directions for social design During the poster session, attendees explored research projects spanning various contexts, including refugee empowerment, youth engagement, co-design in schools and healthcare, and the role of participation in shaping future technologies. The workshop provided participants with the opportunity to reflect on their own social design projects or ones they were familiar with, sharing experiences and challenges. Four recurring themes emerged from these discussions: education, language, evaluation, and funding. The symposium concluded with a strong call for the social design community to continue fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange. This spirit of collective engagement underscored the importance of the event’s outcomes. As a next step, the Social Design SIG will build on these discussions by proposing a book project and establishing an international SIG dedicated to advancing the field of social design.