CONFERENCES
E&PDE 2026 - 28th International Conference on Engineering & Product Design Education
The Conference will bring together representatives from education and industry interested in sharing new perspectives on design education.
Knowledge Base Repository
In addition to research papers, the Design Society is developing several valuable resources for those interested in the study of design. These include a repository of PhD theses, a library of case studies and transcripts of design activities, and an archive of our newsletters. Please note that these resources are accessible exclusively to Design Society members.
FILLING THE (EDUCATIONAL) GAP: DESIGNING FOR AND WITH THE FUTURE
Löfström, Erica; Stensrud, Nils Henrik
Type:
Year:
2026
Editor:
Buck, Lyndon; Brisco. Ross; Bohemia, Erik
Author:
Series:
E&PDE
Institution:
Department of Design, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Page(s):
379 - 384
DOI number:
ISBN:
978-1-912254-24-8
ISSN:
3005-4753
Abstract:
The (Blinded for review) Department of Design explores innovative educational methods to support student creativity in higher education and to position the university as an incubator of innovation. One track in this endeavour is to engage students in shaping their own learning environments, thereby opening discussions on modernizing design pedagogy and fostering a culture of empowerment and innovation. As part of this ambition, we tested a novel approach in the course (Blinded for review) Design in wood (autumn 2025): “Fill the Gap: Design and Build Furniture/Furnistructures for the ID Building.” While our department is restructuring all areas, we saw an opportunity to involve design students in literally shaping their own – and future design students’ – physical environment. Working in groups, students identified and analysed leftover spaces in the Design building and proposed furniture/structures to transform them into useful places, based on the departments current and future needs, with the aim of enhancing the use of circulation areas. We interviewed students from all groups to address two research questions: (1) What is the value of involving students in co-designing their joint environment? (2) How may such co-design exercises contribute to modernizing design pedagogy and fostering a culture of empowerment and innovation in education? Our findings indicate that the exercise strengthened students’ sense of ownership, responsibility, and innovation. We argue that such co-design assignments offer significant potential for making universities incubators of empowerment and innovation, and represent a promising path for modernizing design pedagogy.
Keywords:
