Hello again,

The DRS has lots of new initiatives including the Digital Library, which I shared here earlier today. I wanted to share more news on behalf of the DRS. Here is our brand-new December Newsletter. 

Cheers, 
Isabel Prochner, DRS Online Editor

As we close out 2020 we look back on a year of change for the DRS, some of this has of course been intentional, brought about through changes in governance culminating in elections in April and a new leadership. Other changes have come about through the Covid-19 pandemic forcing us, and everyone else, to rethink how we meet, discuss, and plan for the future. With our new leadership now established we look forward to 2021 being a year of new initiatives for the DRS. At the beginning of the year we will hold a series of online Town Hall meetings for members to get to know each other and find out about our new initiatives. Over the summer we will host a ‘festival of design research’ with online conversations and workshops linking to physical events in the USA and Latin America. Finally, we begin work on DRS2022 which will be held in Bilbao, Spain. We wish everyone a restful holiday period and a Happy New Year.
-Peter Lloyd, DRS Chair

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Town Hall Meetings
The DRS Executive Board is hosting Town Hall meetings in early 2021. Each meeting will explore a core topic for the DRS: PhD research, future conferences, design research leadership, publishing, and DRS Special Interest Groups (SIGs). The Town Halls are an opportunity to get to know the new DRS leadership, meet other members, and get involved with the Society. You might also boost your design research know-how in the process! All events are free, but registration is required. You can register through the DRS Events Calendar.

PhD: https://www.designresearchsociety.org/events/next-generations-connecting-the-drs-phd-research-community-online-event ; Conferences: https://www.designresearchsociety.org/events/designing-drs-conferences-of-the-future-online-event ; Leadership: https://www.designresearchsociety.org/events/developing-a-design-leadership-pipeline-online-event ; Publishing: https://www.designresearchsociety.org/events/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-publishing-your-design-research-but-were-afraid-to-ask-online-event ; SIGs: https://www.designresearchsociety.org/events/special-interest-groups-of-the-drs-a-user-guide-online-event

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DRS2022: Bilbao is Official!
We are very pleased to announce that the location for DRS2022, our biennial conference, will be in Bilbao in Spain. Leading the conference for Bilbao is Sara Lenzi who says: “Bilbao—a UNESCO City of Design since 2014—is transforming into a cultural and academic hub in Europe, well known for its vital art and design scene. With its ecosystem of universities, industry, museums, natural landscapes and award-winning cuisine, Bilbao will bring richness to DRS2022. Who better than the Basques to understand the challenges of coexistence between tradition and new technologies, local and global, virtual and real world, culture and hard work.” Leading the conference on behalf of the DRS will be Peter Lloyd and Paul Hekkert who aim to innovate a new hybrid conference form for wider participation and a smaller carbon footprint.

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Our Digital Library is now Live
Have you presented a paper at a DRS Conference? Then you should already be in our new DRS Digital Library https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/ The Digital Library is something we have been working on for some time, and we are proud to finally open its digital doors and cut the digital ribbon. Please walk in and take a look around.

The Library includes the full catalogue of DRS conferences as well as other events and publications. The Digital Library is an open-access hub for all things design research. We are working to expand the content even further and aim to host publications and materials from design research conferences across the world. The DRS Library is built on the Digital Commons platform, part of Elsevier Science, which makes research materials easy to access, cite and explore. If you are an author you can register with the library and receive regular analytics on downloads and shares.

DRS Chair, Peter Lloyd, said “the new Digital Library will form a key part of the DRS strategy going forward. We are focussed on increasing the quality of design research through our peer-reviewed conferences and events, but our aim is also to become a central repository for design research publications.”

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Design for Policy and Governance - a New Special Interest Group
Design for Policy and Governance has become a hot topic in design research so we are pleased to announce the launch of a new Special Interest Group with a snappy title: PoGoSIG. The group will bring together researchers, designers, and academics to explore how design can drive innovation in policy and governance. The group is led by Scott Schmidt with support from Rachel Cooper, Michelle Douglas, Leigh-Anne Hepburn, and Louise Mullagh. We encourage you to visit the PoGoSIG page https://www.designresearchsociety.org/cpages/pogosig and join the Policy and Governance discussion if you are interested in finding out more https://www.designresearchsociety.org/groups

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What is Design Research in 2021?
The DRS is hosting a session at the CAA 2021 Conference entitled What is Design Research in 2021? The College Art Association (CAA) is a well known visual arts organisation in the USA. Session presentations by Michael R. Gibson, Renata M. Leitao, Juan Giusepe Montalván Lume and Maria Luce Lupetti will explore design research histories, pluriversality, socio-natural design and counter-narratives in critical design.

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Membership Fee Increase
Over the past 4 years we have held the DRS membership fee constant while we have initiated many new projects behind the scenes. We have taken on new administrative staff and subscribed to a powerful new platform for the DRS Digital Library. New development comes at a cost, however, and it is now time to raise membership fees to help cover our basic operating costs. Beginning January 2020 standard memberships will rise from 45 GBP to 60 GBP, with other classes of membership rising by the same proportion. We will, however, keep current membership fees the same for members from countries that receive DAC funding.

We believe this still represents excellent value for what we offer and hope you will continue to support us in communicating the value of design research, organising events, and strengthening the Society for the benefit of the wider Design Research community. To enable full control of your membership, fees will no longer be billed automatically for renewal.


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