Global Design Camp prepares students for a global future

What should our future cities look like? How do we design them for families, communities, businesses and the environment to thrive? And how do the future leaders of these cities develop the skills needed to work within an increasingly challenging, global and transient world.  In an innovative new global partnership between Design Council, Manchester Metropolitan University and Hong Kong Design Institute, this summer 30 students from across the world will work together to develop the ‘Ideal City’. 

“By 2050 two thirds of the world’s population will live in cities. Creating and adapting our cities for climate change resilience, growth, nature, health and happiness is an imperative global challenge. 

The collaboration of UK and Hong Kong Students in this global design camp is an exciting and fundamentally important opportunity for our next generation of global designers and thinkers to convene, collaborate and use design tools for critical thinking. 

We look forward to seeing solutions for the ‘Ideal City’ later this year."

Sue Morgan, Director of Architecture and the Built Environment, Design Council

“By 2050 two thirds of the world’s population will live in cities"

Sue Morgan, Director of Architecture and the Built Environment, Design Council

Supported by Design Council’s experts, the Global Design Camp will see students exploring the challenges facing citizens in Hong Kong and the UK. Collectively they’ll develop new ideas to tackle some of the biggest issues facing our cities; where we source our food, how we create connected communities, how we work, where we live and how we stay healthy and active. 

Global societal challenges need global design teams and skills! In this exciting innovative partnership, we have created the Global Design Academy to tackle purposefully global societal challenges by working collaboratively and cross-culturally. It is necessary that new models of collaboration are required to maximise the effectiveness of design in addressing societal challenges and importantly to help our future designers develop ‘glocal’ design skills and understanding. 

The Global Design Academy will uniquely equip students with the methodologies and new tools to help global designers to work collaboratively across differing times zones with action and real purpose.

Joe McCullagh, Head of Design – Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University

Through an intensive design sprint, students will build the skills they’ll need for the future - the ability to solve complex problems, to think critically, creatively and to collaborate across cultures. They’ll work in global design teams to research, design and test their ideas, receiving feedback from industry experts to help them shape their solutions. Their ‘Ideal Cities’ will be on display later this year at the Business of Design Week in Hong Kong.

Curriculum innovation is at the heart of Design at Manchester Metropolitan and The Global Design Camp is testimony to this.

Shelley McNulty, Senior Lecturer and International Lead for Design – Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University

“Curriculum innovation is at the heart of Design at Manchester Metropolitan and The Global Design Camp is testimony to this. Design students will have the opportunity to acquire new skills with greater understanding of how thinking like a Designer can help tackle societal challenges and contribute to future economies. Collaborating with staff and students from Hong Kong Design Institute will also expand their networks, standing them in good stead for future employment opportunities both nationally and internationally.” 

Shelley McNulty, Senior Lecturer and International Lead for Design – Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University