Designing Our Tomorrow Ian Hosking Bill Nicholl University

Designing Our Tomorrow Ian Hosking & Bill Nicholl University of Cambridge What Designing Our Tomorrow (DOT) started in July 2010 as an 18 -month project funded by the UK’s Research Council (EPSRC) to develop resources for secondary school teachers to teach universal (inclusive) design. The NDA are now funding the adaption and piloting of these resources for use at 2 nd Level in Ireland. The resources address ways in which approaches to teach creative thinking in schools can be embedded with universal design principles in order to inspire young people to design a more inclusive world. This project brings together leading expertise in universal design, creativity & education from the University of Cambridge, Loughborough University and the Royal College of Art. Why It is generally acknowledged that inclusion is an important issue on different social levels and the need for change in government and industry to reduce exclusion in society is recognised. In addition promoting creativity in education is identified as a key priority. DOT brings these two areas together to teach pupils how to apply creative approaches to design everyday things that are more inclusive. How The programme has three key aims for completion by March 2012: (1) (2) (3) Develop teaching resources suitable for Level 2 teaching in Ireland that are suitable for a national rollout Produce evidence that the resources work Determine key recommendations for a subsequent roll-out programme Progress The project is nearing completion in the UK and is just starting Ireland. Feedback in the UK has been very positive. Below are some example quotes from teachers and pupils involved in the pilot: "A fantastic lesson today. . . Very powerful stuff, and I really got into this to get across the issue of having responsibility as designers to help people and to prepare for the future” (a teacher) “This is real design” (a teacher) “But, the thing is, you've actually learnt what it's like to be visually impaired and how it would be like to not be able to pick something up, and how frustrating that would be. ” (14 year old boy) “This is the best project I’ve done so far in D&T. ” (13 year old girl)