At the intersections of digital interaction, social design and creative practice
CoCreate is one of the School of Design’s core research groups and communities. We investigate societal challenges and cultural experiences through participatory and design-led research, emphasising the intersections of digital interaction, social design and creative practice.
Over 50 academics, post-doctoral researchers and PhD researchers make up our collaborative (and largely colocated) community. We have expertise in multi-disciplinary research and predominantly undertake socially engaged research in partnership with diverse communities, third sector organisations, governments and both large and small scale public organisations.
CoCreative forms of engagement are at the heart of what we do and our community employs a range of methodological approaches. Through creative practices, our research critically and reflexively engages with designing and making in the world locally, nationally and globally with an aim of moving towards better futures.
Examples of ongoing research include defining the value of creative practice and design artefacts in restorative justice processes, informing the use of design-led approaches in the public policymaking sector, exploring how technologies and design methodologies can be used in humanitarian contexts, developing reflective practice among support staff in trauma-responsive services, investigating how the creation of tools, artefacts and materials that are used to facilitate creative engagement and expression from people with dementia or questioning how futuring technologies and aesthetics augment our relationship to end-of-life planning.
Some of the larger projects we have at present include The Centre for Digital Citizens (CDC) an EPSRC funded project addressing the emerging challenges of digital citizenship, the EPSRC funded Enabling Ongoingness project exploring continuing bonds in bereavement and implications for end of life and dementia and Open DoTT a Marie Skłodowska-Curie European Union funded PhD programme in partnership with Mozilla exploring how to build a more open, secure, and trustworthy Internet of Things.
We are always open to new collaborations and partnerships! To find out more, please visit the CoCreate website.