Design courses

About MA Design For Social Innovation And Sustainable Futures in University of the Arts London

MA Design for Social Innovation and Sustainable Futures has been established as a collaborative, creative and generative studio for designers interested in working with complex global issues.

The course explores the future of design practice and its interdependence with eco-social concerns. Whether you are a graphic designer, systems designer, animator, filmmaker or architect, no matter your educational or professional background, you are invited to investigate and question your discipline in relation to the global systems you inhabit. Looking at the environment, materiality, empathy, ethics and justice within broad and dynamic socio-cultural, economic and political contexts, this is both a practical and thoughtful course with an emphasis on innovative practice, collective action, plurality and real-world change.

The MA will culminate in a final ‘Design in Action’, creating demonstrable eco-social impact.

What can you expect?

You will work fast. You will work slow. You will think deeply. You will make quickly. You might fail periodically. You might play intensely. You should learn continuously. You will learn with and from your peers. You will cultivate your distinct voice and creative confidence. You will critique, deconstruct and re-define the innovation and sustainability canon. You will design for justice.

You will delve deeply into research methodologies, prototyping and experimentation, diverse models of sustainable eco-social practice, systems design and speculative futures. 

Through various forms of collaboration inside and outside the University, you will learn to connect with stakeholders, frame your inquiry and re-imagine the present for more sustainable futures. You will be exposed to different theories in social innovation and sustainable practice. You will be invited to critique these and build your own knowledge.

You’ll be given opportunities to participate in a diverse range of experiences including workshops, presentations, exhibitions, symposia, knowledge exchange and skills sharing. The course has been designed to be designed. All students involved will be shape-shifting this course through their own critical and practical work.

The Design School at London College of Communication believes in ‘design as the site of action and agency to radically transform our world’. This course will be putting thinking into practice, giving you the chance to make real eco-social impact through a Design in Action final project.

Entry requirements

• A Bachelors Honours degree with 2:2 in a required subject or equivalent.

English language requirements

• IELTS: An IELTS score (or equivalent) of 6.0, or above, with 5.5 in each of the components. Certain courses require higher IELTS scores of 6.5, 7.0 or 7.5. .
• TOEFL iBT: 80 - 100 overall.
• PTE Academic: 51 - 65 (with no less than 51 in each component).

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