Design for policy has been a subject of interest to researchers and practitioners for over a decade. While considerable research has focused on design within public administrations, particularly in public sector innovation labs, there has been little attention paid to where policy ideas come from and how policy change unfolds, and the role (or non-role) of design here. Theorists of the policy process recognise that policy entrepreneurship – that is, promoting policy innovation by framing problems, developing ideas to be coupled with these problems, building coalitions, and promoting these problem–solution packages to those in positions of power – is an important element in achieving policy change. This research first investigates the current role of and then proposes future potentials for design within the work of policy entrepreneurship. It seeks to understand (1) whether and how people undertaking policy entrepreneurship use design, and whether and how politically-engaged designers (such as design activists) engage in policy entrepreneurship; and (2) how design might contribute to the work of policy entrepreneurship in a distinctly designerly way. Through a multi-methods approach using exploratory case studies, an in-depth critical case study and action research in democratic Global North contexts the project will propose and test a framework for design for policy entrepreneurship. (Photo by Tania Malréchauffé on Unsplash)

Stefano Maffei

Social Design Unit SDU Kolding, Eva Knutz, Thomas Markussen