RSA’s Design Directions sets challenge to students

The RSA has launched its annual Design Directions award scheme, stimulating young designers to take a fresh look at everyday issues.

Four of the scheme’s 16 projects have been developed in partnership with NESTA’s innovation Challenges programme.  Entries in the ‘Design for Living’ category involve projects that are formulated to encourage students to come up with radical and experimental new ways in which to either tackle issues relating to health or to involve communities in problem-solving.

Open to current students as well as summer 2007 graduates, a total of £100,000 is available to the competition’s winners.

The first project, Think again, explores the role of design in addressing mental health issues, recovery and wellbeing, and was created in conjunction with the Mental Health Foundation. Students are asked to create a range of services or interactions that would support the recovery journey of the person outlined in a case study.

Including you – a second health-focused project – sets students the challenge of designing for people living with long-term health conditions. Developed in association with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement and Long Term Conditions Alliance, the purpose of the brief is to examine ways in which design-led responses can help people to take ownership of managing their condition.

Focusing on communities, Engage! looks at catalysing social change through design-led citizen participation. This project, developed with Involve and thinkpublic, asks designers to engage with a community and an issue that is of importance to it, using design to achieve change.

Finally, Global issue | Local solution is a communities-based project that seeks design-led solutions to help communities to tackle climate change, developed with the expertise of NESTA Innovation Challenges and RSA CarbonLimited.  Students are encouraged to interact with a community and exlore what they, as a group, can do to lessen the effects of climate change, employing design-led solutions.

A range of resource material supports each of these four projects, including filmed interviews with experts and designers discussing the projects. These will be available via the RSA Design Directions website.

Radical, experimental and challenging

“The 2007/08 Design Directions programme is radical, experimental and challenging,” said Matthew Taylor, RSA chief executive.

 “The projects break down barriers between design disciplines, encourage team-working and above all place the user at the centre of the design process. The carefully crafted projects generated from our partnership with NESTA, not only reflect the RSA's new citizen-centric agenda but also marks the future direction for this scheme”.

“The next generation of designers could hold the key to some of our more intractable social problems,” said Helen Gresty, executive director of NESTA’s Innovation Programmes.

“We’re interested in challenging these individuals to apply their skills and creativity to these issues to come up with new and innovative solutions and inspire others to do the same”.

The full list of projects, including those under the Design for Living heading, can be found at http://www.rsadesigndirections.org/.  Further information, including resource materials, details of awards, entry forms, judging panels and sponsor information can also be found here.

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