MASTER IN STRATEGIC DESIGN IN COMPLEXITY
ACADEMIC PROGRAM
The Master In Strategic Design in Complexity is a one year program at ELISAVA School of Design and Engineering in Barcelona Spain and in partnership with Kaospilot in Aarhus Denmark.
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Students engaging in field work around Barcelona.
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Students in Studio at Elisava.
Students engaging in field work around Barcelona.
Students in Studio at Elisava.
Student designed exhibitions presented at Barcelona Design Week 2024
Program Description
The Master in Strategic Design in Complexity combines design disciplines with other applied social sciences to respond to today’s challenges, developing students’ capacities to solve problems both in the business sphere and all kinds of organisational or community-based settings.
Design has found a place in practically all aspects of society and is no longer exclusively limited to areas related to craft, art and architecture. Following this trend, strategic planning and its application have begun to form part of the world of design, driving new hybrid disciplines and theories that encompass areas like innovation, inclusive design, corporate design and strategic design, but also areas like leadership, sustainability, systems thinking and business change and development, among others.
As the world becomes increasingly VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous), areas like strategy design and the role of strategy in design are gaining relevance. This master responds to the context of society’s growing complexity and the need for a systems approach for solving problems. It thereby aims to prepare a new generation of professionals, like you, by not only enhancing your business skills, but also equipping you with the design capacities required to develop initiatives that respond to the challenges and needs of the 21st century, including environmental and ethical issues.
In this context, the programme promotes ethnographic and anthropological research, ideation and prototyping to devise new approaches in the field of business and social innovation. You will gain design-based critical thinking skills, while developing sophisticated perspectives on organisational and management strategy, financial and environmental strategy, entrepreneurial spirit and ethical leadership.
Design has found a place in practically all aspects of society and is no longer exclusively limited to areas related to craft, art and architecture. Following this trend, strategic planning and its application have begun to form part of the world of design, driving new hybrid disciplines and theories that encompass areas like innovation, inclusive design, corporate design and strategic design, but also areas like leadership, sustainability, systems thinking and business change and development, among others.
As the world becomes increasingly VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous), areas like strategy design and the role of strategy in design are gaining relevance. This master responds to the context of society’s growing complexity and the need for a systems approach for solving problems. It thereby aims to prepare a new generation of professionals, like you, by not only enhancing your business skills, but also equipping you with the design capacities required to develop initiatives that respond to the challenges and needs of the 21st century, including environmental and ethical issues.
In this context, the programme promotes ethnographic and anthropological research, ideation and prototyping to devise new approaches in the field of business and social innovation. You will gain design-based critical thinking skills, while developing sophisticated perspectives on organisational and management strategy, financial and environmental strategy, entrepreneurial spirit and ethical leadership.
Program Structure
The 1-year program is divided into four modules, each with it’s own focus, designed to build upon one another.
1. Business of Strategic Design
This subject considers the world of design, the practice of design and, in particular, strategic design at a social and organisational level. It deals with the value of design and the growing relevance applied to the notion of design and its implications beyond aesthetics and its impact on other disciplines and fields. It introduces approaches, models and tools that improve skills for innovation and problem-solving for effective strategic design.
2. Strategic Design Development
Examination on what strategic design can be. It analyses the development process, from the problem or idea to the dissemination, assimilation, acceptance and use of strategic design. Creative and problem-solving processes are examined and tested. Learning from a broad range of cases, different prototypes are generated to address complex challenges.
3. Strategic Design Leadership
This subject focuses on strategic design leadership, looking at uncertainty and systemic challenges. It introduces conceptual, analytical and practical tools and strategies for change, and highlights the relational and multi-stakeholder perspective as fundamental to problem-solving, as well as examining and developing leadership styles that are suitable for different situations.
4. Master Final Project
In this final module, students design and carry out an individual project. The project will focus on a challenge, which requires fieldwork in a social and / or organizational environment. The project connects the different learning objectives with the thematic areas of the programme. Students can choose to lead the project in their own organization or with other organizations.
In addition to the module focus, the program includes activity spanning across the year, including:
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1. Business of Strategic Design
This subject considers the world of design, the practice of design and, in particular, strategic design at a social and organisational level. It deals with the value of design and the growing relevance applied to the notion of design and its implications beyond aesthetics and its impact on other disciplines and fields. It introduces approaches, models and tools that improve skills for innovation and problem-solving for effective strategic design.
2. Strategic Design Development
Examination on what strategic design can be. It analyses the development process, from the problem or idea to the dissemination, assimilation, acceptance and use of strategic design. Creative and problem-solving processes are examined and tested. Learning from a broad range of cases, different prototypes are generated to address complex challenges.
3. Strategic Design Leadership
This subject focuses on strategic design leadership, looking at uncertainty and systemic challenges. It introduces conceptual, analytical and practical tools and strategies for change, and highlights the relational and multi-stakeholder perspective as fundamental to problem-solving, as well as examining and developing leadership styles that are suitable for different situations.
4. Master Final Project
In this final module, students design and carry out an individual project. The project will focus on a challenge, which requires fieldwork in a social and / or organizational environment. The project connects the different learning objectives with the thematic areas of the programme. Students can choose to lead the project in their own organization or with other organizations.
In addition to the module focus, the program includes activity spanning across the year, including:
Studio Projects
Every year in the program, we as the faculty choose a theme and topic for the students to work on for their first project. The project is an opportunity (a mechanism) in which the students gain first hand experience, applying the learnings along the way – in other words “by doing”.
The projects are chosen around a dynamic, relevant and accessible topic to the context in which our students are living and studying - Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain.
This enables students to connect to their new environment, engage in applied ways (speaking with stakeholders, in-person site visits, and testing on the ground). This also provides the conditions for our faculty and the institution to develop a more integrated level of engagement with the societal complex challenges we are interested in, while building relationships, networks & collaborations that can be sustained over longer periods of time (unbounded by the cadence of the academic calendar).
The projects are chosen around a dynamic, relevant and accessible topic to the context in which our students are living and studying - Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain.
This enables students to connect to their new environment, engage in applied ways (speaking with stakeholders, in-person site visits, and testing on the ground). This also provides the conditions for our faculty and the institution to develop a more integrated level of engagement with the societal complex challenges we are interested in, while building relationships, networks & collaborations that can be sustained over longer periods of time (unbounded by the cadence of the academic calendar).
Students Work
Related Publications
Master of Strategic Design in Complexity. Journey With Us, Fall 2024. LinkedIn. January 9, 2025.
Master of Strategic Design in Complexity. Barcelona Design Week. LinkedIn. November 2024.
Kaospliot. Interview with Toban Shadlyn. Kaospilot Blog.
Master of Strategic Design in Complexity. Journey With Us, Fall 2024. LinkedIn. January 9, 2025.
Master of Strategic Design in Complexity. Barcelona Design Week. LinkedIn. November 2024.
Kaospliot. Interview with Toban Shadlyn. Kaospilot Blog.
Index