Participatory design (PD) has been increasingly applied to support community-based sustainability initiatives, particularly in rural contexts where local knowledge and material constraints shape upcycling practices. However, limited access to design expertise may affect the long-term viability of such initiatives. This study explores how PD principles intersect with upcycling practices in small communities in Thailand through semi-structured interviews with 22 experts from two groups: community-participation experts and upcycling-design experts. An inductive reflexive thematic analysis identified five themes related to participatory upcycling practices, including creative participation as a pathway to community engagement, culturally appropriate communication for sustaining involvement, the integration of local craftsmanship into product development, the influence of material availability on design feasibility, and limited access to technical skills. The findings suggest that participatory upcycling practices support locally grounded innovation through collaborative knowledge-sharing and culturally relevant design processes. However, their implementation remains dependent on external technical support and resource access in rural contexts. The study highlights the importance of context-sensitive design collaboration in supporting sustainable community-based upcycling practices.

Recently, immersive and interactive technologies have brought about significant changes and developments in the museum and gallery sector. These technologies can transport their audiences to specific places, times, and points in history without the need for physical travel and provide them with valuable intellectual and emotional experiences. Through these experiences, museum and gallery audiences have the opportunity to better understand diverse cultures. Accordingly, museums and galleries in the UK and China are increasingly investing in immersive and interactive technologies to promote cultural exchange between the two countries. However, there is limited information about stakeholder awareness of the immersive and interactive technologies used in museum and gallery experiences for cultural exchange and the mechanisms for developing museum and gallery experiences utilizing such technologies. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative methods, such as questionnaire surveys, with qualitative methods involving case studies and interviews. This integrated approach allows for an exploration of mechanisms for leveraging and developing immersive and interactive experiences in museums and galleries while also providing an in-depth understanding of key stakeholders' perspectives in both the UK and China. The research highlights the need to improve the acceptance and accessibility of immersive and interactive technologies for enhanced audience experiences and cultural exchange in the museum and gallery sector and the importance of improving stakeholder roles and relationships. The research outcomes have also resulted in recommendations at the operational (e.g., technology deployment) and strategic levels (e.g., stakeholder roles, relationships, and approaches).

Challenges and opportunities facing designers have become increasingly more complex. Subsequently, traditional performance-based skills and knowledge were insufficient to tackle these issues. As design practices have evolved and expanded, it is important to train young designers with emerging knowledge and skills. To enlarge the breadth of the curriculums while maintaining the depth of performance-based skillsets of designers, the t-shape approach was recommended as a way forward. The horizontal part of the T signified the breadth of knowledge which expanded beyond traditional design skills, whilst the vertical part suggested that learners should develop the depth of knowledge and skills directly related to their disciplines. This paper focuses on how to add value to the horizontal part by the transfer of best practices. To demonstrate how this could be achieved, the Design and Innovation Capacity Building in India project will be used as a case study, since it involved the transfer of best practices in terms of curriculum content from three HEIs based in Europe to three Indian HEIs. Hence, this paper will explain the process employed to transfer curriculum content, which includes: (1) background research to gain a better understanding of design in India and emerging design subjects in the global context; (2) course analyses to identify areas for improvement; (3) the benchmarking exercise to find out good practices from HEIs based in Europe; and (4) the proposed new/improved courses for Indian HEIs. The study revealed that collaborations and blended learning experiences are crucial to helping designers develop emerging knowledge and skills.

Augmented Reality (AR) is increasingly recognized as a transformative tool for creating restorative environments within museums. It has the potential to provide psychological benefits for visitors, including attention restoration, stress reduction, and anxiety alleviation. This study explores how AR can foster these benefits within museum spaces. By adopting AR technology, museums can go beyond their traditional roles of knowledge dissemination. The immersive, adaptive, and interactive features of AR can enhance the museum experience, transforming it into an innovative therapeutic space. By combining real exhibits with virtual elements, AR can restore visitors’ psychological energy within museum settings. This integration of digital innovation into restorative contexts surpasses the traditional functions of visual service. Through empirical investigation of multiple dimensions of restorative environments, AR museum experiences offer comprehensive attention restoration. In this study, a survey was conducted with 279 participants to assess the impact of AR museum experiences on visitors’ psychology. The results revealed that such experiences contribute to heightened attention restoration levels, stress reduction, and anxiety relief. With the latest advancements in generative artificial intelligence, AR technology is empowered to integrate within museums. This integration will merge individuals with customized technology, expanding human perceptual experiences and highlighting AR's significant influence within the museum environment.

This paper focuses on resolving language barriers within the context of co-habitation for displaced communities, specifically between immigrant parents and Turkish teachers within the Turkish education system. Syrian immigrant parents are the majority of immigrants in Turkiye, and they struggle to play a role in their children's education because of language problems which negatively affects immigrant students' success as well as the welfare of the community over the long term. This paper offers a framework of parameters for Human Centred Design and Information Design, in addition to new educational support strategies, methods and mentoring, which can be relied upon to help students and graduates address current and future challenges for responsible innovation. The paper will expand on the detailed findings that Syrian parents and local teachers might not be able to maintain a dialogue due to language limitations, negatively affecting the success of Syrian students. Hence, this paper proposes an analysis of language barriers between Syrian parents and Turkish teachers including literature review and case studies. It has been reported that language barriers extend beyond language limitations, to other factors associated with 'unfamiliarity with the issue', 'emotional barriers', 'cultural differences', and 'personal features' according to context, which benefits from a design-led multi-perspective approach.

Previous studies found that Syrian immigrant parents and Turkish primary school teachers struggle to maintain effective communication due to language barriers. This situation has negatively affected Syrian students and the cohesion within the local community. This paper discusses primary school teachers' viewpoints and examines existing solutions that might help reduce these barriers. Interviews and card-sorting activities designed based on Human-Centred Design principles were carried out with nine Turkish primary school teachers. The results suggested the current communication has been one-way (from teachers to parents). There is a need to make it two ways and help both parties develop better understanding of each other. Hence, the researcher would like proposes that school management team should bring parents to school more often through appropriate social events. Besides this, parent-teacher communication needs to be supported by an interpreter and WhatsApp. Further investigation will be carried out with parents to gain their points of view.

AbstractThe advent of immersive and interactive technologies has facilitated the growth of the museum and gallery sector by offering a variety of new experiences. In the UK and China, in particular, the museum and gallery sector lies at the heart of the creative industries and makes a significant contribution to cultural growth. Both countries have recognised the impact of such technologies on the growth of the sector and have actively sought opportunities to use them for bilateral collaboration. However, the interest in immersive and interactive technologies among museum and gallery audiences remains underexplored, as do their preferences and behavioural patterns with respect to such technologies. This study discusses the key findings of user research, exploring the awareness, experiences and preferences of current museum and gallery audiences regarding (i) immersive and interactive museum and gallery experiences and (ii) the cultural exchange between the UK and China.

Design disciplines have constantly evolved to keep up with the emerging demands of the 21st Century. Design education is thus called to change its methods, tools and approaches. There is an increasing interest in emerging economies in design education, especially in India, where the role of creativity, communication and technology can support social and economic development. This paper aims to present the educational approach developed in the context of the Erasmus+ KA2 project entitled ‘Design and Innovation Capacity Building in India/DESINNO’. The modernisation and internationalisation of Indian universities with innovative and contemporary design courses have been the main goals of a set of research and training activities. In this paper, the state-of-the-art methodologies in design thinking, sustainability, design research, social innovation and ethical issues in design are presented, leading to a bespoke educational approach that provides a platform for Indian design academics to apply modern educational approaches to their specificities and needs.

A workplace's environment has a profound impact on mental health and wellbeing. Over the past decade, wellbeing research has grown in importance as it contributes to a person's well-being, re-duces stress, and increases performance by reducing costs for business. Further, because of globalisation, short-term contracts, outsourcing, and mergers which have ravaged the workplace to date, employee psychological wellness levels were adversely affected. As a consequence, interior design has gained tremendous importance. It is now more important for interior designers to design environments aimed at fostering both physical and psychological wellbeing. The purpose of this pa-per is to explore the extent to which the physical environmental variables (e.g., layout) affect employees psychological wellbeing reporting on the findings of methods which included a systematic literature review, field observation, and an online survey. (25) participants who were chosen upon criteria of inclusion (i.e., UK worker) and exclusion (i.e., working remotely) in an open-plan office layout. Findings show participants responding positively to open layout; however, this may have negative effects in terms of privacy, control, and noise. Natural materials and elements were found to be a demand by employees as the majority claimed that nature affects their wellbeing positively.

The expanding role of design suggests design is crucial for more than merely improving innovation and competitiveness for businesses. Although some studies have investigated the role and impact of design for social enterprises, there is little evidence that design is supported in social enterprises as a strategic driver of sustainable growth. This study analysed Design Support Programmes (DSPs) for social enterprises in the United Kingdom and South Korea, with similar awareness of design and different approaches for DSP development, to explore the mechanisms for supporting design in such enterprises. A qualitative research approach was employed, including case studies of DSPs and exploratory and in-depth interviews with academics and practitioners in the social enterprise and design fields. The research results reveal that the countries share some issues regarding the operational and strategic levels of the current DSP mechanisms. The findings highlight the critical role of design and strategic stakeholders for social enterprises.

Co-design is intrinsically linked to the notion of empowerment, however little research has focussed specifically on understanding the types, obstacles and sources of empowerment in co-design. This paper combines theoretical investigations with observations derived from co-designed research by academic and non-academic partners to explore these issues, in particular, the role of shared material objects and processes in supporting empowerment during co-design. The paper uses the notions of 'power over,' 'power to', 'power with' and 'power within' to tease out different aspects of empowerment, and draws on empirical observations to determine different obstacles and sources associated with each. The study therefore makes a theoretical contribution to the understanding of co-design as an empowerment process and should be useful for design researchers undertaking co-design projects with non-experts.

Research shows that conventional care for older immigrants across the UK remains inaccessible. Cultural and system ensued barriers impact on self-confidence and personal agency. Often evading dealing with the state altogether, this user group rely heavily on word of mouth and informal family care. This significant lack of personal agency is shown to negatively impact on the construction of the ‘self’. In answer to this impending social challenge, this preliminary paper explores how co-design methods can help strengthen the citizen-state relationship and cultivate community engagement. Through a review of literature and expert interviews, the study aims to shed light on the service experience of non-native peoples and uncover some of the service and system challenges that impact on the lives of this often-overlooked group. This forms part of a larger study that aims to improve social care services and the overall system of care for elderly immigrants in the UK.

: This paper discusses how individual creativity can be fostered through co-design activities and the act of making, especially those taking place in makerspaces. The research: i) explored the relationships between creative development and co-design activities; (ii) investigated types of co-design activities occurring in makerspaces; and (iii) identified good practices employed in makerspaces across the UK. The case study method and PACT Analysis was used to ensure the thoroughness of the investigations. The results showed that co-design and making could help foster individual creativity, as they encourage people to explore new knowledge, ask open-ended questions, plan things in advance, make decisions and defend decisions. Additionally, the research suggested that makerspaces play a key role in creating an inducive environment for people to share ideas, learn from each other and network.

This paper discusses the design and outputs of co-design workshops used to facilitate the co-creation of a shared vision for public makerspaces in China and the design of such space. The workshops were held with Chinese and non-Chinese participants to identify similarities and differences in terms of approaches, outputs and key considerations. Initial results suggested that these workshops were effective at supporting value co-creation, as they excel at engaging participants and enable them to collaborate as equal partners. It was observed that Chinese participants were rather pragmatic and conscious of sustainable growth.

This article focuses on a specific form of collaboration between academic researchers and practitioners: co‐design. Generally, the strategic use of co‐design is considered to be beneficial because, among other reasons, it better aligns outcomes to user needs. In addition, active stakeholder participation engenders new network developments and strengthens existing links. Despite this, the extent to which the co‐design approach could be used to foster new knowledge and/or practices is hardly explored. Thus, our research applied co‐design methods to organizational practices and examined how they may bring about benefits for academic researchers and practitioners collaborating in the context of not‐for‐profit organizations. According to our findings, all stakeholders considered co‐design to be useful, as it helped them achieve desirable outcomes in a more inclusive and collaborative manner. The findings confirmed a number of benefits, among them confidence building. The size of organizations did not appear to affect the process or the outcomes. While most knowledge co‐created through these types of projects tends to be practical in nature, new theoretical knowledge was generated through critical examination of the process/results as well as through individual/group reflection. We consider this aspect to be particularly useful for other researchers and practitioners interested in applying co‐design principles to the not‐for‐profit sector. According to our findings, all stakeholders considered co-design to be useful, as it helped them achieved desirable outcomes in a more inclusive and collaborative manner. The findings confirmed a number of benefits, among them, confidence building. The size of organisations did not appear to affect the process or the outcomes. While most knowledge co-created through these types of projects tends to be practical in nature, new theoretical knowledge was generated through critical examination of the process/results, as well as through individual/group reflection. We consider this aspect to be particularly useful for other researchers and practitioners interested in applying co-design principles to the not-for-profit sector.

This paper discusses the meaning of social value from the design perspective, especially in corporate social responsibility practices, and the contextual issues and values derived from design, considering how companies could better use design for social value creation. The research identified consumer attitudes to corporate social value and where companies are perceived to have generated social value, and explored where design has contributed to such social value. The research illustrates that design has great potential to add value to the triple bottom line, mostly related directly to organisations, but also to areas relating to society, including the 'lower levels of environmental degradation' and 'more solutions for social issues', indicating design plays an influential role in creating socially responsible products/services. However, this research suggests that a clear definition of 'social value' from various perspectives and its relationship with CSR is required due to the complex and subjective nature of 'social value'.

This paper aims to explore the types of spaces and experiences that are created by design and creative practices. More specifically, it focuses on how design and creative practices can engender transformations in the mindset, knowledge, emotions and social relations of people who participate in such practices. To do this, the paper investigates the concepts of liminality and liminal spaces, and the relationships between design/creative methods and liminal spaces using insights from four case studies. The results reveal that design and creative practices may create liminal spaces in many ways, such as neutralizing the working environments, encouraging people to experiment with new ideas and helping them express themselves more freely.

The United Kingdom’s social enterprise sector has grown radically over the past two decades, as a result of various government-led efforts to create an environment which enables social enterprise development. However, financial weaknesses still impede the sustainability and growth of most social enterprises. Typically, businesses recognise design as an important factor in the growth of their potential competitiveness which is crucial to making profits, and as a tool enabling stakeholders and organisations to work better as a system. Design is thus regarded as potentially playing a significant role in overcoming the financial weaknesses of social enterprises, in order to encourage their growth and sustainability. To date, few studies have been undertaken on the use of design for social enterprises, so there is insufficient data about the relationship between stakeholders and the role of design. This current research project proposes the need to study how encouraging the strategic use of design can address the growth and sustainability of social enterprises, from the multiple stakeholders’ perspectives in the social enterprise ecosystem.

Abstract This paper discusses main findings of a pilot study, which explored how co-design and co-production could support asset-based community development. Increasingly, community developments have shifted toward an ‘asset-based’ approach, which concentrates on uncovering and mobilising existing assets in a community to create new opportunities. The study experimented with different co-design techniques to investigate how they could help identify unrecognised assets. Four pilot studies were conducted with key stakeholders in four communities. The study brought together researchers and local communities with the objective to co-design, co-develop and co-analyse the pilots. The results suggested that co-design was perceived as empowering. In most cases, it was ‘people’ that were regarded the most important assets in a community. Engaging people in a creative process could help them appreciate their skills, knowledge and creativity, and recognise themselves as assets. This research advanced the knowledge in Social Design by demonstrating how co-design could support community developments.