IN SESSION: Design Education: what next?

The shifts of power across the world; technological innovation; the metamorphosis of business models to meet new global challenges and opportunities; an ageing population; the understanding of different cultures - these are just a few of the variables that mean design education has to be reimagined.

This conversation between Ben Evans, Philip Dodd and Nadia Danhash addresses these issues and more as they discuss what’s next.

Philip Dodd and Nadia Danhash will be convening an executive education masterclass in September 2024, Building a globally successful creative business

Ben Evans

Ben Evans is the Director of the London Design Festival, which he co-founded in 2003. The Festival celebrates and promotes London as a global design capital. It is the biggest design event in the UK and has inspired similar events in many international cities. It is an annual event involving 350 partner organisations and attracts 1.5 million individual visits. As well as managing the Festival Ben initiates, commissions and curates projects for the event including an annual residency in the V&A museum. In 2016 he added a new activity – The London Design Biennale – where countries present design installations to a theme. Over 80 have now participated in the four editions to date. He is the Executive Director of the Biennale. He has been a governor of the University of the Arts London, a board member of the Roundhouse, and a trustee of Artangel. Between 2017 and 2021 Ben was Chair of the Mayor’s Cultural Leaders Board - a statutory advisory group to the London Mayor. In 2010 he was awarded an honorary fellowship from the Royal College of Art and graduated there in 1989. In 2019 he received a CBE for services to the Creative Industries.

London Design Festival celebrates and promotes our city as the design capital of the world. The 22nd edition will take place on 14–22 September 2024.

Philip Dodd

Philip Dodd is the Chairman of the award-winning creative enterprise Made in China (UK) Ltd; and an award-winning BBC broadcaster, author and curator. He has been called a ‘visionary Briton’ by the Australian media for his work between Europe and China and was named one of 50 Design Gurus by Design Magazine. He has written speeches for Ministers and Prime Ministers, executive-produced films with artists such as Damien Hirst and Steve McQueen and has been advisor to major companies in China developing cultural quarters. His company brokered the deal that led to the V&A setting up an outpost in Shenzhen. He has written and edited numerous books on art, film and literature and is one of the curators of this year’s Chengdu Biennale. His company Made in China was given a prestigious Hurun Report Award in 2019 for its work between China and the UK. He has lectured at New York’s Columbia University, UK’s Cambridge University and Beijing’s Renmin University.

Nadia Danhash

Nadia is an investor and business developer who has spent over ten years at the RCA developing enterprise and entrepreneurship programmes and supporting graduate entrepreneurs. After a twenty-year commercial career in the biotechnology sector, Nadia has a cross sectoral focus on innovation. She invests in and supports the creation and growth of new design-led ventures and she trains and mentors more mature non-design businesses internationally to help them to innovate and grow. She leads the Royal College of Art's entrepreneurship centre, InnovationRCA and is responsible for the direction of its start-up accelerators. In 2015 she set up AngelClubRCA to connect investors and UK companies seeking early stage investment. She has worked with over 200 companies from a very diverse range of sectors and, on behalf of the Royal College of Art, has invested in over 60. Nadia has worked in Europe, the USA and her roles have also included responsibility for operations in Asia. A PhD life scientist, with an MBA, Nadia's broad commercial experience, at international Corporates and with start-ups, have given her a breadth of experience from which she draws when working with founders.