Master in Management of Design for All - at Universitat De Vic (Barcelona) in Partnership with Design for All Foundation

Course description

Universal Design (UD) also known as Design for All or Inclusive Design is every year more and more integrated in public policies and private projects.
As more advanced countries have discovered, UD is a key factort for sustainable development.

The concept of Universal Design has evolved dramatically along the last years. Driven by the synonymous, but initially “rights-based” concept of Design for All used mainly in Europe, Universal Design is evolving from designing for the needs of elder and disabled population towards designing for the respect of human diversity in economic growth context considering all aspects of diversity (cultural, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, age, dimensions, etc.).

Another key transformation can be found in the UD methods: professionals have evolved from “designing considering elder and disabled persons” to “designing with people”.

Due to all these ramifications UD can’t be considered as an isolated issue. UD is a key aspect of social sustainability to be valued as other crucial aspects (economy, ecology and social cohesion among others) while designing policies, laws, services, products or environments.

The course will describe how the global concept UD can be put into practice in specific contexts, whereby the methodology will be comparable even if the particular outcomes differ.

By means of study visits, tools and methods learned, projects developed under each Module, on-line discussions and the final project, the student will be able to manage all aspects of the implementation of Universal Design in all areas of the public and private sectors.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the course the students will be able to work as UD managers in the public sector or in private companies but also as UD consultants, in detail this implies:

• Understand the definition of a good practice in UD and, above all, the complexity of adapting environments, products and services to match with the very diverse expectations and constraints of users and providers.

• Understand the critical aspects to succeed in designing and delivering services considering all aspects of human diversity.

• Use in a professional way methods and tools for users’ involvement and co-design with users.

• Identify and prioritize the key factors to balance social, economic and ecological aspects in UD implementation.

• Discover the Seven Interdependent Success Factors (7ISF) to design a project and to assess the services through the analysis of existing good practice examples.

• Discover worldwide cases of UD delivered by the administration, the business sector and the social forces.

• Ability to diagnose the improvements to be made in public space, buildings, transport means, products and services with the use of appropriate instruments and tools.

• Ability to project a retrofitting plan with the use of appropriate instruments and tools.

•  Ability to act as a consultant for the implementation of UD in new urban planning, buildings, products and services and to use the appropriate instruments and tools.

Method of presentation:

• Lectures and discussions: The lectures will provide the description of different services, socio-demographic elements and analysis methods supported by bibliography and images. During the lectures open discussion will be stimulated.

• Class participation: Students will analyse in groups different projects running in different contexts using analysis tools that will be provided to them. In a second step extrapolation possibilities will allow to check the transferability of UD methods.

• Field studies: Visits to companies and public spaces related to UD in Barcelona. In a second step extrapolation possibilities will allow to check the transferability of UD methods.

• Oral presentations: Students are expected to present the results of their analysis or proposals with visual support.

 Field studies:

• As examples, Barcelona’s public space, buildings, transportation services and companies, the Design for All Foundation, Barcelona Design Hub, Zicla and Access Safety, among others. In a second step extrapolation possibilities will allow to check the transferability of UD methods.

Orientation

Professional.

Location

The sessions will be in Barcelona. 

Timetable

From 2/10/2017 to 15/06/2018. The sessions will be along 6 weeks (monday to friday, from 9-14 and 16-20 h), starting October 2017 since June 2018
MFP presentation:15 September 2018