Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability (DESIS) International Network partners in the UK, including the 6 colleges of the University of the Arts London, the Royal College of Art, Lancaster University, Northumbria University, Lincoln University and Kingston University, have been awarded network funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to deliver a series of DESIS networking events across the UK during 2013.

The project aims to extend and establish a ‘DESIS-UK Network’, as a national multidisciplinary network of individuals and organisations exploring design-led social innovation and sustainability in collaboration with UK HE. It aims to strengthen connections between design academics and academies, design practitioners, and end users of design from public, private and third sector organisations and the communities they serve, to explore how best to employ design thinking and skills to deliver sustainable social and environmental benefits to communities.