New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Initiative category

Identify the award category for which this initiative is being submitted
Prioritising the places and people that need it the most

Email user
pawelgrobelny@yahoo.com

Basic information
Initiative title
“DESIGN AND RESEARCH”

Full initiative Title
The new master’s programme “DESIGN AND RESEARCH”

Please provide a short, catchy description of your initiative to be used in communication towards the public.
The “Design and Research” Master’s degree course for designers is entirely based on the 3 pillars of sustainability (society, environment, economy) and on the core values of the New European Bauhaus – sustainability, social inclusion and aesthetics. Collaborating with specialists from other disciplines, bringing about real change in the social environment through student projects and raising awareness of the needs of vulnerable groups are the basic guidelines us.

What was the geographical scope of your intiative?
National

Where was your intiative implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
Poland

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
{Empty}

Does your initiative address mainly urban or rural issues?
Mainly urban

Does your initiative refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)

Has your initiative benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

Has your initiative won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

Does your initiative has a minimum level of maturity? The minimum level of maturity is exemplified by stakeholder/ initiative promoter commitment to implement the initiative in practice and a clear methodology /approach.
Yes

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As a representative of an organisation
Please provide the contact details for the project promoter (the individual or representative of the organisation authorised to represent the project)
- Name of the organisation(s): Faculty of Design - Academy of Fine Arts
  Type of organisation: University or another research institution
  First name of representative: Pawel
  Last name of representative: Grobelny
  Gender: Male
  Nationality: Poland
  Function: Head of Graduate Studies "DESIGN AND RESEARCH" - Faculty of Design - Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: ul. Mysliwiecka 8
  Town: Warsaw
  Postal code: 00-459
  Country: Poland
  Direct Tel: +48 604 857 607
  E-mail: pawel.grobelny@asp.waw.pl
  Website: https://ww.asp.waw.pl/studia-magisterskie/
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: https://www.facebook.com/wydzial.wzornictwa.asp.warszawa
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): #faculty_of_design_warsaw_DESIGN_AND_RESEARCH
In case my initiative is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my initiative in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
New European Bauhaus or European Commission websites

Description of the initiative
Please provide a summary of your initiative
The “Design and Research” Master’s degree course for designers is entirely based on the 3 pillars of sustainability (society, environment, economy) and on the core values of the New European Bauhaus – sustainability, social inclusion and aesthetics.
The most important distinctive elements of the new master’s programme are the interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in design teaching. We invite specialists from other disciplines, often very distant from design (landscape architects, psychologists, sociologists, mathematicians, economists, cultural anthropologists), for individual educational projects (research and design workshops and research platforms). We try as much as possible to open students up to other fields and disciplines and to initiate collaborations between our Master’s course and other universities, research centres and cultural and scientific institutions. During just recently completed semester, we have collaborated with the “Opening Schools” (“Otwieramy Szkoły”) institution, which initiated and organised a school for Ukrainian children in one of Warsaw’s office buildings. A semester-long workshop entitled “Designing for Education”, led by 8 designers from our Faculty and invited sociologists and the founder of the “Opening Schools” institution, contributed to the creation of new educational tools, school furniture and school equipment in a broad sense and its surroundings.
Collaborating with specialists from other fields and disciplines, bringing about real change in the social environment through student projects and raising awareness of the needs of vulnerable groups, environmental change and the search for alternative economic models that involve citizens in joint initiatives and actions are the basic guidelines for the “Design and Research” Master's programme. We believe that only in this way are we able to execute projects that are truly needed, worthy of our joint commitment.

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with 5 key words.
Educating conscious, sensitive and open-minded designers.

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Teaching research methods and using them in design.

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Exploring processes and a variety of design methodologies.

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Opening up and expanding the field of design, initiating interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary activities in design.

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Expanding the role of design to include initiating and creating activities that respond to contemporary social and environmental challenges.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of sustainability and how these have been/will be met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
1. Inviting external institutional partners to co-facilitate and support research and design workshops.
2. Inviting experts from diverse fields to co-lead research platforms.
3. Co-delivery of the thesis by two supervisors – a theoretician and a researcher and a designer (for the research part and the design part of the thesis).
4. Conduct activities using workshop and interdisciplinary methods to support team action.
5. Supporting the design and research interests of each student.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
Design that aptly responds to the challenges of today must be research-based. Only in this way are we able to carry out projects that are really needed and worthy of our joint commitment.
The new master’s programme also fits in with the tradition and identity of the Faculty of Design, which has always been based on the social engagement of design, openness to other disciplines and the humanities and social sciences. The programme is also based on the three pillars of the Faculty – theory, artistic practice and, of course, design. The teaching team includes practising designers, artists, theorists and researchers, as well as invited guest speakers and external guests each year to work on specific projects with MA students.

Similar projects could be implemented in other design departments - where the staff would not be made up of designers only, but also artists, sociologists, anthropologists and psychologists

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
What is most important is that these are free studies within a public university. A program realised at a public university is all the more likely to respond to social needs, with the greatest consideration for the social groups that need it most. Until recently, the work of designers was understood primarily as a value for industry, but in the same way designers can be a great value for society. That's why this semester we worked with the "Opening Schools" initiative, which organized a school for Ukrainian children in one of Warsaw's office buildings, and in the upcoming semester (II/2023) we will be designing a park with a community garden adjacent to a center for Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the initiative and civil society have been/will be involved in the initiative and what has been/will be the impact of this involvement on the initiative
First of all, the study program is designed to sensitize young designers to social issues, we are committed to educating conscious, critical, sensitive about open-minded designers.

As part of the studies I will create real, implemented projects (such as a park with a community garden for a refugee center in Warsaw). The idea is to solve by design social and environmental probems globally but on a local scale, based on cooperation with local institutions and local beneficiaries

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the initiative.
The project was created locally - at the Faculty of Design of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. But from the very beginning we invited external institutions and external experts to join it.

In the first (implementation) year it is the "We Open Schools" foundation, which organized a school for Ukrainian children in Warsaw in one of Warsaw's empty office buildings. The second institution we are starting to work with this semester is a refugee center in Warsaw, for which students will design a park and a community garden in one research platform. This project will be led by Prof. Grzegorz Niwińśki - who leads the Ecological Strategies Design Studio - and an outside expert we invited to co-lead the research platform - Natalia Budnik, who creates landscape and planting strategies on the variety of scales and time perspectives. She is interested in projects that emphasize the phenomena of nature and its dynamic processes. She is interested in projects that highlight the phenomena of nature and its processes, creatively adapting the dynamic potential of greenery and its development over time. She is currently exploring rituals of landscape care and seeking a language form plant-based commemorations with the Forgotten Foundation. A graduate of the University of Copenhagen.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your initiative. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was
Collaborating with specialists from other fields and disciplines, bringing about real change in the social environment through student projects and raising awareness of the needs of vulnerable groups, environmental change and the search for alternative economic models that involve citizens in joint initiatives and actions are the basic guidelines for the “Design and Research” Master's programme.

The teaching team includes practising designers, artists, theorists and researchers, as well as invited guest speakers and external guests each year to work on specific projects with MA students.

The study programme is based on two supporting pillars – design and research. For the first semester, students participate in research and design workshops. The second semester is mainly devoted to three research platforms carried out by lecturers and active designers as well as invited guests from outside the faculty (sociologists, landscape architects, anthropologists, economists, psychologists, artists, researchers). These platforms correspond to three very important research areas – society, environment and economy – the three fundamental pillars of sustainable development.

Please highlight the innovative character of the initiative, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the initiative
The new master’s programme also fits in with the tradition and identity of the Faculty of Design, which has always been based on the social engagement of design, openness to other disciplines and the humanities and social sciences.

The most important distinctive elements of the new master’s programme are the interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in design teaching. We invite specialists from other disciplines, often very distant from design (landscape architects, psychologists, sociologists, mathematicians, economists, cultural anthropologists), for individual educational projects (research and design workshops and research platforms). We try as much as possible to open students up to other fields and disciplines and to initiate collaborations between our Master’s course and other universities, research centres and cultural and scientific institutions. During just recently completed semester, we have collaborated with the “Opening Schools” (“Otwieramy Szkoły”) institution, which initiated and organised a school for Ukrainian children in one of Warsaw’s office buildings. A semester-long workshop entitled “Designing for Education”, led by 8 designers from our Faculty and invited sociologists and the founder of the “Opening Schools” institution, contributed to the creation of new educational tools, school furniture and school equipment in a broad sense and its surroundings.

Please describe which elements of your initiative could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and contexts. This may involve, for example, aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings, etc.
The program is constantly cooperating with other entities (associations, foundations and universities) not only from Warsaw, but also from other cities, and we plan to engage in foreign cooperation. That's why this exchange of our program works all the time, when we cooperate with specialists from other universities, for example. The academic community is often a very closed environment to its field or even discipline. Our new program shows that it is possible to be open not only to close fields and disciplines, and even to the most distant ones. And it is not just about interdisciplinary activities, but especially transdisciplinary.

The successes of this program can be a cause for change at other universities and departments, and be a good excuse to change their programs in favor of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary teaching.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your initiative.
The study programme is based on two supporting pillars – design and research. For the first semester, students participate in research and design workshops. The second semester is mainly devoted to three research platforms carried out by lecturers and active designers as well as invited guests from outside the faculty (sociologists, landscape architects, anthropologists, economists, psychologists, artists, researchers). These platforms correspond to three very important research areas – society, environment and economy – the three fundamental pillars of sustainable development. The third and fourth semesters of study are mainly devoted to the realisation of the thesis. Each student chooses two supervisors – for the research part and for the design part. Work on the diploma therefore takes place in parallel with two supervisors. The research part supports the design part, but also the design part supports the research part.

We would like the areas and topics of the diploma projects undertaken to respond to contemporary social, environmental and economic challenges. The research and project workshops and research platforms conducted in the first year of study are also intended to give the students the courage to take on important and interesting diploma topics, which are often also a definition of the area our graduates want to pursue after graduation.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the initiative addresses by providing local solutions
Design that aptly responds to the global challenges of today must be research-based. Only in this way are we able to carry out projects that are really needed and worthy of our joint commitment. However, we can respond to global challenges locally, and this is how we try to educate and sensitize future designers - that they can respond to the space around them and the local community.

We would like the areas and topics of the diploma projects undertaken to respond to contemporary social, environmental and economic challenges. The research and project workshops and research platforms conducted in the first year of study are also intended to give the students the courage to take on important diploma topics, which are often also a definition of the area our graduates want to pursue after graduation.

Please detail the scope of progress in the implementation of the initiative. This can include already demonstrated results/outputs related to the chosen Prizes category, and the already achieved benefits from the initiative for direct and indirect beneficiaries. This can also include a development plan of the initiative, with a particular attention to the steps envisaged in the year following the application, and including envisaged results and benefits from the initiative
We try as much as possible to open students up to other fields and disciplines and to initiate collaborations between our Master’s course and other universities, research centres and cultural and scientific institutions. During just recently completed semester, we have collaborated with the “Opening Schools” (“Otwieramy Szkoły”) institution, which initiated and organised a school for Ukrainian children in one of Warsaw’s office buildings. A semester-long workshop entitled “Designing for Education”, led by 8 designers from our Faculty and invited sociologists and the founder of the “Opening Schools” institution, contributed to the creation of new educational tools, school furniture and school equipment in a broad sense and its surroundings.

Please provide documents that demonstrate the maturity level of the initiative and commitment to implement the initiative in practice (e.g.: evaluation report, final or mid-term initiative report, certification, publications, building permit, grant agreement, letter of support, partnership agreement, etc.)
Web link
Web link
- https://ww.asp.waw.pl/projektowanie-i-badania-platformy-badawcze-2022-23/
If relevant, please describe how your initiative contributes to developing new competences, especially in the context of the European competence framework on sustainability.
The study programme is based on two supporting pillars – design and research. For the first semester, students participate in research and design workshops. The second semester is mainly devoted to three research platforms carried out by lecturers and active designers as well as invited guests from outside the faculty (sociologists, landscape architects, anthropologists, economists, psychologists, artists, researchers). These platforms correspond to three very important research areas – society, environment and economy – the three fundamental pillars of sustainable development. The third and fourth semesters of study are mainly devoted to the realisation of the thesis. Each student chooses two supervisors – for the research part and for the design part. Work on the diploma therefore takes place in parallel with two supervisors. The research part supports the design part, but also the design part supports the research part.

We would like the areas and topics of the diploma projects undertaken to respond to contemporary social, environmental and economic challenges.
Please attach at least 6 high resolution images or visual representations of your initiative to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below.
- DESIGN AND RESERACH - MASTERS DEGREE PROGRAM_Pawel Grobelny.pdf
By submitting your application you confirm that you are the copyright owner of the images provided and that they can be used by the European Commission for the purposes of promoting the New European Bauhaus on all platforms (websites, print, social media and other).
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that you are not in in one or more of the exclusion situations foreseen under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.
Yes

By submitting this application, I declare that I am not related to the entities subject to EU restricted measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and subject to Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU)1, and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05), which are not eligible to participate in any capacity.
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that you assume sole liability in the event of a claim relating to the activities carried out in the framework of the contest, that the proposed initiative has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Prizes in any other category or strand and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.
Yes

By submitting your application, you guarantee that you are the author or have the rights to proceed with the application and to authorise the use of the initiative and that you have obtained any necessary consents, licenses or assignments from third parties and included copyright notices when necessary
Yes

By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their initiatives, initiative, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted initiative, initiative is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes