BEDA Insight Forum 2017 - Policy Labs: What is the future of design for policy-making?

It does not take a political analyst to see that there is an increasing gap between citizens' expectations and government policy. People are becoming disenfranchised with traditional policy-making and political representation. How can we put citizens back at the heart of policy-making? Around the world there are over 100 Policy Labs, multi-disciplinary government teams using innovation methods, particularly design, to actively involve citizens in public service and public policy development. According to a study commissioned by the EU Policy Lab, there are around 60 Policy Labs in Europe. Furthermore, cities are building capacity for design and hiring Chief Design Officers. BEDA, the Bureau of European Design Associations, is a network of around 50 design centres, associations and innovation support organisations. BEDA has invited the EU Policy Lab, Northern Ireland Innovation Lab as well as the Chief Design Officers for Helsinki and Eindhoven to explore the question: What is the future of design for policy-making and how can we enhance citizen involvement? Topics for discussion: Are we experiencing a power shift from supranational and national governments to Regions and Cities? What are the challenges of involving citizens in policy-making? How might design transform traditional policy processes? How can we involve citizens more effectively in policy-making? How can we prototype policy? What is the future of policy-making?   The final Programme and the venue will be released shortly. Register for the event here.   BEDA Insight Forum is an activity of the Design Europe 2021 project, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the EU.