Practice Research in Social Design: Definitions, Contexts, Futures

Two-Day Symposium

19 May 2022, 6pm – 8pm

20 May 2022, 9am – 6pm

Online and in person (limited places available)

Chelsea College of Arts, 16 John Islip Street, London SW1P 4JU

This event brings together perspectives on practice research in design in relation to, and in the context of, urgent social and sustainability challenges. Organised by the Social Design Institute at University of the Arts London (UAL), one of the UK’s leading specialist art and design higher education institutions, this symposium will share examples of practice research in design alongside enabling critical discussion of the possibilities and consequences of this form of research and development, and the contexts in which it has emerged.

Designed to facilitate wide-ranging scholarly dialogue whilst upholding a commitment to reduced international travel, the symposium will comprise a mix of formats: livestreamed panel discussions, video showcases of examples of practice research by researchers and doctoral candidates at UAL, and complementary digital interactions.

This symposium is convened by the Social Design Institute in collaboration with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, Centre for Circular Design, Design Against Crime Research Centre and the University of the Arts London (UAL).

Full schedule now available

View the full schedule and speaker biographies. Printed copies will NOT be available on the day. Guests are encouraged to download a digital copy they can access on the day.

Download the schedule (PDF, 947 KB)

Programme

Note: All times are British Summer Time. Programme may be subject to last-minute changes.

Day One: Thursday, 19 May 2022

6pm – 8pm

Opening Panel: Setting the Scene

This session sets the scene by situating practice research in design in a broader context. It shares perspectives from academic fields and professional practice that use practice research to advance knowledge and develop responses to social and sustainability issues. What are the achievements and what has been learned from using this approach? What are the barriers and enablers to carrying out high quality practice research? What outcomes can practice researchers work towards?

Introduction and welcoming remarks: Professor David Mba, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise, UAL

Chair: Professor Lucy Kimbell, Social Design Institute, UAL

Professor Harriet Hawkins, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway

Indy Johar, Dark Matter Labs

Professor Pratap Rughani, London College of Communication, UAL

Day Two: Friday, 20 May 2022

9am – 6pm

Panel Two: Definitions: Knowledge, boundaries, interventions, methodologies

This session reviews competing definitions of practice research in design in relation to social and sustainability issues. In a context in which design research is increasingly oriented to ethics and care, what forms of practice research are emerging? What makes it distinctive? How can we make sense of the intersections with other forms of practice research such as in music or the social sciences?

Introduction and welcoming remarks: Professor Lucy Kimbell, Director of Social Design Institute, UAL.

Chair: Professor Alison Prendiville, London College of Communication, UAL

Professor Emerita Anne Boddington, Kingston University

Dr Kat Jungnickel, Goldsmiths College, University of London

Dr Patrycja Kaszynska, Social Design Institute, UAL

Dr Lesley-Ann Noel, North Carolina State University, United States

Professor Cameron Tonkinwise, University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Panel Three: Realities of doing design practice research

This session brings together people with different perspectives on the doing of practice research in design in relation to social and sustainability issues including doctoral students and early career researchers. What can be achieved through practice research in design, that can’t be achieved so effectively through other forms of knowledge production? How do practice researchers negotiate the different proximities that exist within research contexts? How do design researchers balance requirements to produce new knowledge as well as making contributions to practice or to a social situation or context?

Chair: Dr Rathna Ramanathan, Central Saint Martins, UAL

Dr Hena Ali, London College of Communication, UAL

Dr Fehér Bori, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME), Hungary

Dr Rosie Hornbuckle, Centre for Sustainable Design, UAL

Associate Professor Thomas Markussen, Southern Denmark University, Denmark

Panel Four: Contexts – infrastructures, drivers, narratives

Chair: Professor Kate Goldsworthy, Centre for Circular Design, UAL

This session offers a critical assessment of the histories and genealogies of practice research in social design. Why has it emerged? How do differing institutional locations result in different agendas, forms of practice research and consequences? What logics and narratives is it tied up with? What inequalities and conditions does it reproduce?

Professor Yoko Akama, RMIT, Australia

Professor Guy Julier, Department of Design, Aalto University, Finland

Associate Professor Eva Knutz, Southern Denmark University, Denmark

Dr Lara Salinas, London College of Communication, UAL

Panel Five: Doctoral study in practice research in social design and design for sustainability

This session reflects on the possibilities and conditions associated with doctoral research in social design that uses or includes practice. What are the enablers and barriers to carrying out practice-based research in social design? What infrastructures and narratives are required for doctoral researchers working in this way to succeed? To what extent can we (re)imagine the publics for doctoral research through practice?

Chair: Professor Sandy Black, Centre for Sustainable Fashion, UAL

Dr Catherine Dormor, Head of Research Programmes, Royal College of Arts

Kadian Gosler, PhD researcher, London College of Fashion, UAL

Professor Jeremy Till, Head of Central Saint Martins and Pro-Vice Chancellor of UAL

Professor Laurene Vaughan, RMIT, Australia

Dr Alex Wilkie, Department of Design, Goldsmiths College, University of London

Panel Six: Futures for practice research in social design – opportunities, challenges, demands

This session anticipates some of the future opportunities and challenges facing those carrying out, enabling or participating in practice research in social design. What are the significant factors inside and around universities that influence practice research and researchers in social design? What are the career paths and pipelines for those committed to practice research in relation to social issues and sustainability? How should university policies, infrastructure and training look from this perspective? What are relevant factors within national research and innovation systems, and how does the UK situation look compared to others in the EU and beyond? Looking ahead to 2030, what should change in and around universities to advance practice research in design?

Chair: Professor Ramia Maze, London College of Communication, UAL

Dr Ahmed Ansari, New York University, United States

Dr Andrea Botero, Aalto University, Finland and Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia

Professor Rachel Cooper, Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts

Professor Claudia Mareis, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

Professor Joyce Yee, School of Design, Northumbria University

New working paper on practice research in design

UAL’s Social Design Institute is delighted to introduce a new working paper on practice research that offers a nuanced and up to date definition of what practice research means in design and the arts, authored by Institute Research Fellows Dr Patrycja Kaszynska and Dr Jocelyn Bailey and Institute Director, Professor Lucy Kimbell. Symposium participants may find it useful to read the paper ahead of the event.

Read the paper (PDF, 451KB)

COVID-19

Anyone planning to attend the Symposium should ensure they are familiar with the latest rules and guidance issued by the UK government regarding COVID-19 and should not act contrary to such rules and guidance.

We recommend that you take a lateral flow test before attending the event. Wearing masks will be optional but not compulsory.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact Gabriele Grigorjeva: socialdesigninstitute@arts.ac.uk.

Image: Georgina Heaton, Hands Holding Object, 2021, BA Product and Industrial Design, Central Saint Martins, Copyright: Georgina Heaton.