Danielle,

Maybe you are aware of the design policy group, on yahoo groups  
([log in to unmask]).
If not, it is moderated by Ken Friedman and Dori Tunstall. It is not  
very active, but you will find elements of interest for your research.
Maybe you can link your blog to that list, or vice-versa (if  
technology permits, or post on both ?), so that you can benefit from  
the input of the people who are already members of that group ?

Jean

Le 19 sept. 11 à 17:02, Danielle Bushore a écrit :

Peter, Gunnar & Derek,

Thank you for your responses. All of your resources are accurate  
accounts of
what a design policy might entail- independent of Canadian politics and
policy structure that is. It would be really great if we could  
continue this
discussion on my blog site at www.designpolicycanada.com. I'm  
interested in
these concepts of policy and your ideas of whether or not these same  
ideas/
theories would be possible in the Canadian climate. The blog is like any
other, but in order for me to use your thoughts and ideas, I need your
consent, like any other research. There is a link on the site for this.

There are a number of reasons for proposing a policy that includes most
design sectors in Canada. Combined, these sectors encompass a large  
body,
much larger than independent associations and together they contribute a
great deal to the Canadian economy. Most policy is derived through  
proof of
cost-benefit. Rather than establish a way to calculate this  
quantitatively,
I'm creating a discussion about it. Throughout my research, I've  
found it
interesting that while the Canadian government supports innovation  
and the
arts, it does little to support or promote design.

A 'policy' is a word that is often used to mean different things. It  
scares
some people, makes others wary or skeptical. It's meaning is derived  
from
anything that the government chooses to do or not to do- though there  
are
many accounts of what policy really is and all vary slightly. If the
Canadian Government chose to recognize and support design education and
provided a monetary interest in research and bettering the creative  
economy,
it would be my understanding that this is a policy.

I hope this helps to explain a bit more about my thesis. It is  
centred more
around the actual discussion and opinions of professionals who have much
more experience in the industry than I. If you are skeptical that any  
sort
of government interest in the design industry would be of benefit, I  
would
like to hear about it and why. I posted the first question yesterday-  
it's
very general but I thought it could get the discussion going. I'll be
posting a new topic every week that will be based on the responses and
arguments posed in the previous topic/question. I also have some  
links on
the home page that demonstrate some great examples of initiatives that
different countries have in place.

Your expertise would be greatly appreciated and I look forward to  
hearing
anything else you would like to contribute at:
www.designpolicycanada.com

Sincerely,

Danielle Bushore
MDES Student
Carleton University
Ottawa ON



On Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 9:17 AM, Peter Jones | Redesign <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Gunnar - Dori Tunstall's work in the US Design Policy
> http://www.designpolicy.org/ comes to mind.
>
> The UK Design Council has been a design clearinghouse for their  
> development
> of the field, for many years:
> http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-work/insight/policy/
>
> Not having worked with these kinds of initiatives, I'm skeptical of  
> the
> focus of a "design policy." I'm in Toronto and I have trouble  
> imagining
> what
> the federal government would support as a design policy, and I'd at  
> least
> prefer to wait until there was a non-conservative government  
> overseeing the
> executive functions before initiating policy discussions (so perhaps
> research for the next 2-3 years here is good!)  Does this mean  
> Canadian
> design as an industry consortium?
>
> I find the practices of design too wide-ranging, dynamic, and  
> disparate to
> have a meaningful sense of policy at the national level. I'm not  
> sure other
> design professionals or policy makers even understand what the  
> purposes
> are.
>
>
> I would prefer to focus on policy functions well understood in  
> government.
> Funding mandates would be useful for education (post-secondary design
> education) and research (design research at the PhD level has very  
> little
> funding, as it does not fit scientific mandates).
>
> Peter
>
> Peter Jones, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor, Faculty of Design
> Strategic Foresight and Innovation
> OCAD University
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gunnar Swanson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, September 19, 2011 8:48 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Design Policy?; was: Design Policy in Canada Masters Research
>
> I'm never quite sure what people have in mind when they use the phrase
> "design policy." Can anyone point me to a relatively terse  
> description?
>
>
> Gunnar
> ----------
> Gunnar Swanson Design Office
> 1901 East 6th Street
> Greenville NC 27858
> USA
>
> [log in to unmask]
> +1 252 258 7006
>
> http://www.gunnarswanson.com
>