Design+Strategies (D+S) conducts research in design by adopting a strategic and systemic approach.

D+S engages in scientific research (both basic and applied) and education, experimenting in various innovation contexts and exploring design intervention areas within organizations, design for sustainable transition, and cross-fertilization with Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI).

D+S imagines multiple futures: it uses scenario building to define the necessary steps to achieve and provide effective and sustainable solutions for a preferable/desirable future.

D+S stands out for its well-established shared experiences among faculty, researchers, and professionals, experts in different fields of knowledge, united by a passion for Strategic Design.

Our research themes:

• Design within Organizations: Strategic Design and its practice can activate, facilitate, and guide changes and transformations within organizations of various sizes and types (large, small, and medium enterprises, start-ups, non-profits, etc.). The project culture is applied in organizational contexts to promote internal changes on different scales and areas of intervention: from the well-being of people within enterprises to the management of internal innovation processes, to the generation of solutions (products, services) that can stand out in the competitive landscape. This research theme explores how to experiment with design practices within organizations through strategic interventions that put people and their ecosystems at the center. It also examines how integrating the project culture can permeate organizational cultures, strengthening skills, practices, and methods typical of strategic design.
• Design for Sustainable Transitions: Through research, D+S guides the transitions of communities, institutions, and companies towards sustainability by promoting innovation and facilitating the transformation of usage, consumption, production, and organizational behaviors in a systemic way. Strategic Design considers the entire ecosystem, involving all stakeholders in the transition process, i.e., the environment, society, and economy (planet+people+profit). The identified solutions therefore consider the entire system, including human and non-human stakeholders, using a participatory approach that involves stakeholders in co-research, co-creation, and co-design processes that facilitate meeting, collaboration, and the activation of empowerment processes.
• Design for Cross-Fertilization: Through research, D+S supports Cultural and Creative Industries by facilitating the development of new skills through collaboration and contamination with companies from various sectors. The aim is to create innovation opportunities (product, service, process, etc.) guided by Strategic Design. In particular, D+S develops and shares methods and tools with actors and stakeholders who do not possess the typical skills and attitudes of designers (design thinking) to cross-fertilize companies in manufacturing sectors that traditionally do not adopt design practices, thereby generating innovation paths.