Universities Call for Expansion of Multi-disciplinary Design Education

Universities Call for Expansion of Multi-disciplinary Design Education

Britain needs to create a greater level of government support for multi-disciplinary design education if it is to remain the world's leader in design, science, engineering and innovation, according to a report published today by the Multi-disciplinary Design Network (MDDN) of leading universities and academics in design.

This is the primary recommendation of a report published today, which sets out the evidence and recommendations for improving the connections between design and other key disciplines in universities.

The report also calls for greater integration of design with STEM and business curricula to nurture a new generation of scientists, engineers, designers and technologists who can develop the globally-competitive future products and service on which the UK's socio-economic recovery will depend.

In two further key conclusions, the report recommends both the continuation of the Multi-disciplinary Design Network and the further monitoring of how this approach to design education improves design graduate employment / earnings and the wider effect on innovation in businesses and other organisations in which they work.

The MDDN's report maps out how multi-disciplinary design activity is being embedded in the UK's Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), analyses the effectiveness of the new courses and centres which have been established in the UK and elsewhere and makes four key recommendations for ways in which HEIs - assisted by policy-makers - could most effectively continue to embed multidisciplinary design education across a range of subjects.

The Network conducted extensive international research to arrive at its conclusions, witnessing first-hand the effectiveness of multi-disciplinary design education during fact-finding missions to universities and design companies in the US, Scandinavia, China and Korea as well as in the UK.

"The evidence is clear. Government needs to help Higher Education integrate multi-disciplinary design education with the other key innovation disciplines of engineering, technology and science," said Lesley Morris, Head of Design Skills at the Design Council.

The Multi-disciplinary Design Network consists of academics from 36 universities. It was set up in 2006 by the Design Council, supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA). It aims to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and best practice across universities, improve curriculum design and assess the impact of the new courses and centres devoted to enabling design students to work closely with other disciplines.

Design Council