Design for Scotland: scoping a national design strategy / policy.

The planet is at a critical moment, as we all look to proactively address the climate crisis, the transition to net zero, as our public finances face ever-increasing challenges, and as we work to make the case for the critical role of creativity in a just and thriving society.

Design shapes almost all aspects of our lives and access to good design should be equal for all. Good design remains a largely untapped resource.

Design for Scotland is a project seeking to explore how to develop a strategic and focused approach to supporting design nationally. It will do this by undertaking research and developing an engagement programme with partners and the design sector.

V&A Dundee is leading the project with support from the UNESCO City of Design Dundee team. They ran an open call to commission this independent research. This project is supported and funded by Creative Scotland through National Lottery Funds. Key stakeholders are the Scottish Government and the national enterprise agencies.

Through an open call, 36 individuals from across Scotland were recruited to form a working group. The applications were anonymised, and a selection criterion pre-defined to ensure broad representation of those working at different career stages, backgrounds and across different sub-sectors under the design umbrella. This group have had an integral role in sharing reflections on the current landscape of design in Scotland and in shaping scenarios which explore how design can thrive within and contribute to a future Scotland.

Further feedback was sought from across the design community through an online interactive questionnaire.