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In the first issue of Mind Design in 2010, Director Dorthe Mejlhede takes stock of the activities in the Danish Centre for Design Research in 2009 and of the platform that the centre has created for current and future design research. Design research can act as a catalyst for innovation and as a source of value creation for companies and for society at large. That is why it is so important to continue to expand and support the design research environment, Dorthe Mejlhede points out.

It was a forward-looking Ministry of Culture that established the Danish Centre for Design Research (DCDR) in late 2003 as one of the ­world’s first national, cross-institutional research centres for design. The purpose was to strengthen design research in Denmark within the Ministry’s area of responsibility, but in addition, the initiative has also strengthened the basis for essential research with relevance for the business sector as well as society at large; an outcome that has led to substantial and concrete benefits for many companies that work with the DCDR’s researchers.

Design research is blazing new trails and generating insights that form the basis for innovative products and services. This gives design research the capacity for being an important catalyst for innovation and thus a source of value for companies and for society at large.

The main task for the Danish Centre for Design Research is to promote design research in Denmark, in part by building bridges both within the design research environment and ­between design research and society in general. Photo: Henrik Petit.

Building Bridges

In recent years, the DCDR has forged an independent identity and profile that have earned it a distinct international position. The DCDR’s research funds have helped the Aarhus School of Architecture, The Danish Design School, Designskolen Kolding and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture to increase and enhance their research efforts. The DCDR’s coordination efforts help promote the interaction among the research environments at the four schools and contribute to the ongoing development of the research field. The DCDR has also established channels of communication that make the research accessible to the surrounding society.

Synergy Within the Design Research Environment

Since its founding, the DCDR has held countless conferences and research seminars. These activities have had a positive impact on the design research environment and have helped expand the individual researchers’ networks. The resulting synergy has fost­ered a research environment across the institutions that is now capable, for example, of developing a joint training programme for design researchers and of establishing senior researcher activities and joint research events. These activities help unite, develop and promote the research environment. In addition, there have been meetings and dialogue-promoting activities aimed at disseminating research-based knowledge to the private sector. In addition to the internal synergy effects, a research organisation has been established that has been increasingly successful at attracting external research funds.

Research in 2009

The national budget for 2010 includes a three-year design research grant for the Danish Centre for Design Research. Thus, in 2010 through 2012 the DCDR has six million Danish kroner available for design research in the four institutions. In March 2009, the Danish Ministry of Culture granted the DCDR three million kroner for research in 2009. During 2009, the DCDR’s impartial advisory research committee allocated these funds to specific research projects within the institutions. Funding was provided for a total of 19 projects, all of which are related to the training and recruitment of researchers, for example in form of co-funding for Ph.D. and post-doc-projects, visiting professors, international research conferences, and pre-doc-projects that typically develop into externally funded Ph.D. or Industrial Ph.D. projects. The topics of these projects have included the visualisation of abstract data in relation to the integration of electric cars in Denmark, the establishing of a consortium for strategic design, understanding of user-experiences, the connection between typeface and identity, and an international conference on the relationship between design and philosophy – to mention but a few of the 19 projects.

Design Research on the Agenda

At the Danish Centre for Design Research, we place a high priority on disseminating design research findings to make new knowledge available to designers and the business community. It is essential to communicate the potential of design research and to put this potential on the agenda. In 2009 alone we produced 30 articles on design research in our webzine Mind Design, which is published both in Danish and English, and we expanded the researcher profiles on our website, www.dcdr.dk. The articles in Mind Design demonstrate that design research is relevant to society and an important source of innovation – for example, the November issue focused on the key topic of sustainability.

Master’s Programme in Design

2009 was also the year when the second round of the DCDR’s Master’s Programme in Design was completed with impressive grades for the students and praise for the programme from the external examiners. The censors say that the programme offers the students ‘multi-facetted competences, where practical and academic knowledge engage in a constructive exchange, bringing the graduates to a higher level than if they mastered either the professional or academic competences alone.’ See the article on students’ projects Building Knowledge Based on Design Practice, Mind Design #21.

International Cooperation

At the annual research seminar in August, the DCDR had the benefit of an international perspective on our research environment with a visit from one of the world’s leading design researchers: Professor Richard Buchanan, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Richard Buchanan says that Danish design research is characterised by great potential, a constructive dialogue and a high degree of diversity; factors that are very conducive to additional studies and research. The Danish design tradition is strong enough to secure the Danish approach to design a central position in new areas both in Denmark and abroad, he says. Richard Buchanan says that Denmark has the potential to develop a strong design research environment. He points out that design research plays a key role today because it helps students and practising designers understand what new directions design needs to take in order to boost the competitiveness in companies and on a national level.

Continued Expansion of the Research Environment

By continuing to expand and support the design research environment, Denmark will be able to develop design research competences that can be targeted strategically within key business areas and contribute to continued innovation and competitiveness. Thus, in 2010 – and beyond – it is essential to continue to develop the volume and international standing of design research, to cooperate on large-scale research projects, to develop the training programme for researchers, to strengthen the research dissemination efforts, to provide continuing education for our former students, and to continue to expand our cooperation with the business sector. Not least in order to further the joint efforts to ensure that the potential of design research as a catalyst for innovation is noticed – and realised.

Happy New Year!

Dorthe Mejlhede

Mind Design #25, 2010