We are living through strange times and are having to adapt our daily lives and consider our collective futures in ways none of us imagined. Design is a fundamental human activity, encompassing not only the physical, but also systems, services, infrastructure and modes of living. Here at ImaginationLancaster we are thinking about the role design plays now and in the future in helping us recover from the COVID-19 outbreak and ensure our resilience.

We are currently compiling a database of how design is being used during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the re-design of service delivery in education and healthcare, the production of PPE equipment by 3D printing and hand-production, to graphic communication of public health messages. The database is global and we hope to develop a platform to share this in the near future. Our aim is to understand the breadth of design responses being created during this time and to explore how design might help with our collective recovery and future resilience. While we recognise design alone isn’t a panacea to the complexity of our current situation, we believe it has a fundamental role to play in shaping future responses to global health and resilience.

As this project forms part of the Beyond Imagination project we are particularly interested in exploring design responses relating to the following themes:

• Population and policy
• Home and Living
• Factory and Workplace
• Community and the Public Sector
• City and Urban
• Prosperity and Evaluation
• Sustainability
• International
• Health

If you would like further information or would like to contribute examples please contact Louise Mullagh, Senior Research Associate (Population and Policy) l.mullagh@lancaster.ac.uk or find me on Twitter @louisemullagh

Image: Eamonn Foy for United Nations Covid Response https://unitednations.talenthouse.com/