Designlab for Social Innovation

The Designlab for Social Innovation is a collaboration between Norsk Form and AHO. It aims to professionalise a new field of design for society through practice. It is working with real projects as ways to test new design methods and tools.

The complexity of modern societal challenges are such that we can only solve them through new approaches and new private and public collaborations. Design has proven to offer processes to facilitate this sometimes difficult collaboration and is offering the new approaches needed.

Designers ability to think solution orientated, their ability to deal with complexity and in turn to sense make through strong visual skills mean that they are increasingly being invited to contribute to solving these complex societal challenges.

Designlab works through practical projects and an active dialogue with both local and national government in order to increase the use of design within the public sector.

Projects include The Norwegian State Design competition which has the theme this year of Health in Schools. AHO students have also been involved in projects working with littering in Groruddalen together with Groruddalensatsingen (see film here), Giga-mapping at the Directorate for Health as well as running co-design workshops as part of Oslo Innovation week.