Key details
Date
- 21 April 2022
Author
- RCA
Read time
- 2 minutes
Design for Good aims to be the world’s most ambitious and impactful design non-profit, delivering direct, urgent and measurable impact towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Key details
Date
- 21 April 2022
Author
- RCA
Read time
- 2 minutes
The Royal College of Art is one of the founding members of Design for Good (DfG) – a global non-profit alliance of industry-leading companies and institutions from across the private sector, academia and social sectors, which launches today in celebration of the United Nations World Creativity and Innovation Day.
The founding alliance also comprises General Mills, Logitech, McKinsey & Company, Microsoft led by Xbox, Nedbank, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Philips. Design for Good was founded with the ambition of enacting measurable positive impact against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) on a scale only possible through global collaboration.
“Focusing on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals presents an immense global design challenge – one that our community of talented postgraduate design students will have the opportunity to address alongside industry experts.”
Dean of the School of Design
Each year, Design for Good will focus on one UN SDG. Its inaugural year sees the alliance address Goal Six which focuses on access to clean water and sanitation. RCA students will be invited to work with designers from the founding organisations on solutions towards Goal Six – with more details on how students can participate to follow in May.
The RCA is also represented on Design for Good’s board of trustees, with Dr Nick de Leon, Executive Education and Knowledge Exchange Lead in the School of Design, on the board alongside Benedict Sheppard, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Gilbert Houngbo, Chair of UN Water and President of the International Fund for Agriculture Development; and John Maeda, technologist and designer.
“Design for Good will bring together the most creative minds from industry and academia and at the Royal College of Art, the world’s number one institution for art and design [QS Rankings 2022], we are excited to play a leading role in this alliance.”
Executive Education and Knowledge Exchange Lead, School of Design
Over time, Design for Good aims to create innovative new solutions that transform the lives of millions of people and communities around the world, with all companies agreeing to provide these solutions on an open-source and licence-free basis. The alliance’s intention is not only to create direct and measurable change – but to transform the way large companies and institutions collaborate on a common goal.
Professor Paul Anderson, Dean of the School of Design, commented:
"Forming part of the Design for Good alliance is a natural step for the RCA, and builds on the work of our excellent design centres which are devising solutions to problems across a wide range of scales. Focusing on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals presents an immense global design challenge – one that our community of talented postgraduate design students will have the opportunity to address alongside industry experts."
Dr Nick de Leon, Executive Education and Knowledge Exchange Lead, School of Design, commented:
"There is a perfect storm of challenges currently affecting our world – but there is also a perfect storm of technological capability and human ingenuity to tackle those challenges. Designers have a special role to play by envisioning and delivering innovative solutions in harmony with nature and society. Design for Good will bring together the most creative minds from industry and academia and at the Royal College of Art, the world’s number one institution for art and design [QS Rankings 2022], we are excited to play a leading role in this alliance."
