The Role of Research in Danish Design Vision

- Political Support To the Vision Design 2020

Design society. Danish politicians from several parties across the political spectrum agree with the Vision Committee Design 2020. They mention investments in design research and strengthened interdisciplinary cooperation as some of the means Denmark should use to become a global centre for design knowledge.Illustration: Pernille Brun Andersen

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Design research should play a key role in the development of Danish innovation. That is the conclusion in the final report from the Danish government’s Vision Committee Design 2020. In the report, which was published in June 2011, the committee argues that design has the capacity to improve our quality of life, generate growth and increase the efficiency of the public sector. But realising this potential will take a long-term strategy and an ambitious design policy. Politicians from both sides of the political spectrum agree with the goal.

By Hans Emborg Bünemann

“In order to become the design society, design research needs to continue to be strengthened, matured, and accelerated – optimally, embedded in a national educational and research strategy.”

These words are taken from the report The vision of the Danish Design 2020 Committee, which the Danish government’s Vision Committee Design 2020 submitted to the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs and the Ministry of Culture on 29 June 2011.

Morten Østergaard, deputy chairman of the parliamentary group of the Danish Social-Liberal Party Radikale Venstre, attributes design research a key role in the development of Danish society. Photo: Henrik Sørensen. Borrowed with thanks from the Danish Parliament.

The committee concludes that Denmark needs a new, ambitious design policy to replace the previous design policy, which expired in 2010. The new policy should be based on a combination of artistic creativity and research-based knowledge about users, markets, culture and society.

Investments Require a Strategy

The committee argues that design research should play a key role in the future development of Danish innovation. But that requires a long-term strategy, including improved coordination of design research and knowledge sharing. In the report, the committee mentions that in the years leading up to 2020, more than 100 billion Dkr. is to be invested in traffic infrastructure and new public institutions such as hospitals, schools and universities in Denmark. To ensure quality, efficiency and user-friendliness, the Vision Committee recommends that design be made an integrated aspect of these investments from day one.

Exploit the Commercial Potential

Political decision-makers have given the committee’s recommendations a positive reception. According to Morten Østergaard (Member of Parliament for the Danish Social-Liberal Party, Radikale Venstre), design research is crucial if Denmark is to become a design society with a global role to play.
“It takes knowledge to address the challenges in relation to climate issues, welfare technology and innovation in business and industry. Design research generates this knowledge,” he says. “Therefore, we intend to invest both in research and in the research-based design education programmes. The goal is to see many more companies follow in the footsteps of, say, Novo Nordisk, Coloplast and LEGO, which have noticed and tapped into the connection between design and innovation.”

Troels Christensen, cultural spokesman for Venstre, Liberal Party of Denmark, emphasises the value of the interdisciplinary potential of design research. Photo: Henrik Sørensen. Borrowed with thanks from the Danish Parliament.

In Morten Østergaard’s assessment, it is particularly important to promote research into the use of design processes and design methods to develop innovation. That will help Danish business and industry exploit the potentials of design management, service design, design thinking and strategic design, he points out.

Innovation at the Points of Intersection

In the report, the Vision Committee underscores the interdisciplinary character of design research. The committee notes that radical innovation, that is, the development of entirely new products and services rather than the incremental improvement of existing solutions, often takes place exactly at the point of intersection between disparate fields of knowledge. Therefore, in the vision that the committee outlines to the government, by 2020, Danish design research will be acknowledged as an important research discipline, generating insights that are integrated in many other fields of research. The committee recommends the development of a national strategy to ensure a coordination of design research and the dissemination of findings across research environments.

Troels Christensen (Member of Parliament for Venstre, the Liberal Party of Denmark) agrees. He considers it essential to improve the interdisciplinary coordination of design research in Denmark.
“Real-life challenges don’t conform to disciplinary or departmental boundaries. If we as political decision-makers can help design research interact with other fields of knowledge, we should. By facilitating an interdisciplinary approach for design research, we will be promoting the potential benefits of design for society,” he states.

Rasmus Prehn, research spokesman for the Danish Social Democrats, sees the need to strengthen design-driven and user-driven innovation in Denmark. Photo: Henrik Sørensen. Borrowed with thanks from the Danish Parliament.

Additional University Chairs for Design

Rasmus Prehn (Member of Parliament for the Danish Social Democrats, Socialdemokraterne) is excited by the vision of generating interdisciplinary knowledge. He sees design as a meeting place for a variety of professions and disciplines that, in combination, can go far to meet the needs of society and individuals.
“Design should create an interaction space where the charting of values, perceptions and future needs can be combined with the most recent technical knowledge. The research environment is already headed in this direction, but we can enhance the process further, for example by establishing additional university chairs in design,” he suggests.

Rasmus Prehn also intends to advocate the inclusion of design research in his party’s plan to establish research centres for business and industry where the education and research environments are to join forces with companies to pursue solutions related to climate, environment, healthcare and welfare technology.

Global Design Hub in Denmark

These specific suggestions match the Vision Committee’s recommendation to the Danish government of pursuing an ambitious design policy, which should include the establishment of public-private partnerships. Morten Østergaard of the Social-Liberal Party argues that the cooperation between creative industries and public-sector institutions should be an element in creating a Danish design hub to attract knowledge as well as international investments. But that will require political commitment.
“We can only become a global design hub if we are willing to invest in research and in providing the right conditions for partnerships between researchers and the private sector,” says Morten Østergaard.