Design for systems change

The challenges that we face today — the climate crisis, ageing populations, in-work poverty, polarisation of society — are not ones that anyone can tackle alone, and not ones that all the current answers aligned together would solve. Systems change is an approach that looks beyond individual ideas, to create new conditions for radical new ways of thinking to emerge, and connecting together often disparate groups who have a common cause.

What role does design play in systems change and transition work?

As design has evolved over the last 30 years, growing out from product design through service design to policy and systemic design, designers have moved into the world of systems change and transitions, mixing their tools and techniques with those of the psychology and relationships.

The systems change world recognises the value of design. It has been led by some people with backgrounds in design and are increasingly looking to partner with designers or take on designerly tools. And designers too need to recognise the part they can play in solving society’s biggest challenges, which are tricky and complex, and therefore can’t be solved by one intervention alone.

Over the next six months, the Design Council, working with The Point People, is hosting a series of workshops and events to bring together designers working in systems change, designers who are interested in how they could play at part, and funders who need their help and aims to develop a set of principles and practice around design for systems change.

• September 26th, 3–5pm: workshop for systems change practitioners to share tools and techniques to co-design more systemic interventions (by invitation).
• October 16th, 1–5pm: workshop for designers working in systems change to develop a set of principles and standards setting out the value of design for systems change, how it should push itself to provoke and lead new innovation, and how this should be practiced (by invitation). Hosted by the Design Museum.
• December 2nd, 4–7pm: event for designers who are new to systems change to understand more about the practice and where they can play a part. Hosted at Design Council.
• February 13th, 10am-12pm: roundtable for funders and commissioners who need systemic responses to their challenges to understand the value of the role of design in systems change. Hosted at Design Council.