The ID+ DESIS Lab is member of the DESIS Network. It is held in the Research Institute for Design, Media and Culture [ID+] that is a multidisciplinary research structure anchored in two institutions: The University of Aveiro (Department of Communication and Art) [UA /DeCA] and the University of Porto (School of Fine Arts) [FBAUP]. The +ID DESIS Lab’s objectives include: stimulating design-led sustainable social change initiatives; mapping creative communities by gathering case studies of social innovation in Portugal; promoting social innovations and sustainability among the Portuguese design community.
The founder of the DESIS Network invited the +ID institute to constitute a DESIS Lab. This invitation was kept open from 2009 – 2011. A specific discipline was created in 2010-2011, including the topic of design for social innovation. it was an important step.
The project called “Action for Age” was developed “to raise awareness amongst young Portuguese designers about the social transformations brought by population ageing and to explore the contribution of the Design discipline in this framework”.
This project became one of the first projects developed at the University of Aveiro that related design and social innovation. The institute (+ID) started to be recognized in the city of Aveiro and in Portugal as an institution involved in social innovation.
It had been an informal laboratory since 2009. In 2011 it was registered formally in the statutes of the Portuguese system as a research group.
An important member of the management body at the university recognized the value of design to promote social innovation. This was considered an important CTP.
The project OIS (Oficinas de Inovação Social or Social Innovation Workshops) was considered a critical turning point because it worked based in the relation between the ID+ DESIS Lab, with other departments and disciplines in the University
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