Future of Design Education: Using the DESINNO Project as the Case Study

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.