Design for Sustainability
Development of new sustainable materials, research on product/service systems for sustainability, sustainable consumption and research on sustainability transitions.
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Our research environment fosters goal-oriented research, imaginative experiments, critical discussion and cross-disciplinary enquiry.
We work with businesses, scientists, technologists, sociologists, policymakers, public sector organisations and communities of interest towards a more just and sustainable world.
Aalto Design Research has three, interlinked foci: Design for Sustainability, Collaborative and Human-Centred Design and Practice-Based Design Research.
Development of new sustainable materials, research on product/service systems for sustainability, sustainable consumption and research on sustainability transitions.
Collaborative and Human-Centred Design research includes co-design, service design, interaction design, user experience, end-user innovation and open design.
Practice-based design research includes artistic research, design-driven exploration on emerging technologies and materials, and the action research–oriented development of new design methods and approaches.
We also research design management and innovations as well as contemporary and historical issues of design culture and society. Our work extends to applied research that serves industry and the public sector.
Aalto Design Research seeks both rigour and high societal relevance. A high proportion of its work involves multi- and trans-disciplinary collaboration. It is also characterized by engagement with societal challenges and collaborations with organizations in the private and public sectors and with civil society actors.
The research foci of the Department of Design are pursued in seven research groups. In addition the Department of Design has expertise in design strategy, design management and innovation research and in research on the historical and cultural significance of design.
Group approaches research with an attitude, where making, acting and engaging play important roles.
Research group
The ENCORE research group explores constantly application fields for co-design through hands-on exploration and ambitious research. The visionary competence stems mostly from industrial design spiced with engineering, architecture and anthropology.
The Fashion/Textile Futures research group explores new perspectives on human-centered design research. The group approaches research in the field of fashion, clothing and textiles in multi-faceted ways.
Researches designer-user relations in sociotechnical change.
NODUS Sustainable Design Research Group undertakes transdisciplinary design research for sustainable futures.
The Strategic Design Integration and Management (SDIM) research group organises researchers with an interest in design management and the organisational adoption, implementation and leadership of designers and design-based practices at the Department of Design.
Latest research output and publications from the Department of Design.
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