Prototyping Collective Leadership: Designing the Future of Scotland's Design Sector through a Design Futures Approach.

Whether there should be a national design policy or strategy in Scotland has been a subject of discussion by several initiatives led by academics, industry and public sector bodies since 2014. However, without structural support, or a sustainable mechanism for involving design sector representatives in developing a national approach to design, there was a lack of capacity to progress priorities.

In response to these challenges, V&A Dundee (Scotland's Design Museum) expanded its role in 2021 to become Scotland's National Center for design, thereby catalysing the 'Design for Scotland' initiative: the first stage of which was an independent research project to explore strategies for strengthening the design sector and potentially developing a national design policy.

This paper presents findings from this independent research conducted on behalf of V&A Dundee and led by a consortium of consultancies: Graft Design and Innovation Management Ltd., Studio Andthen Ltd. and how2glu Ltd; and funded by Creative Scotland (the national agency that supports arts, screen and creative industries). It involved engaging stakeholders through various activities using a Design Futures approach, including envisioning future scenarios for Scottish design and soliciting input through interactive gamified surveys. These efforts sought to foster dialogue and identify key priorities within the sector.

Our findings underscore the significance of adopting a Design Futures approach and highlight the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders. In the absence of a designated National Design Agency, our research emphasizes the need for collective leadership to shape the trajectory of the sector, drawing inspiration from successful models in other European countries to forge a distinctive approach for Scotland.
This paper provides a glimpse into our research efforts and invites further discussion on the role of collective leadership in advancing national design efforts; including the potential contribution and limitations of a Design Futures approach to enabling conversations about the future of design easier to engage with and shape.