Considerations for Community Engagement in Design Education

The Future of Design Education working group on Community Engagement describes the active involvement of students and faculty with community groups as important co-design and participatory research opportunities that shift the designer’s role from expert to facilitator. The working group offers overarching principles for designer behavior when working in communities and recommendations for the management of community-based student projects. The goal of engagement is to share knowledge and power, building toward autonomous decision-making about the community’s future. A matrix "A Spectrum of Community Engagement in Design Education" illustrates a continuum of participation to explain the types of work in which students, faculty, and researchers might engage. A discussion of assessment both acknowledges challenges that are different from the typical individual studio projects and offers insights from other service sectors for a broader review of engagement program success. Short descriptions of cases illustrate key concepts.