Hong Kong PolyU DESIS Lab

Background
The DESIS Lab at the School of Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK-PolyU) is initially emerged from a series of social design and design research programs, such as the ‘In Search of Marginalized Wisdom’; ‘Yunan Project’; ‘A bridge too Far’; the ‘Sustainable Lifestyle Design Initiative’ (SLDI) from 2005 to present. In light of the unflagging urbanization and rapid rise of consumption in South-East China, the Lab has been established under the arm of the Jockey Club Design Institute for Social Innovation (JCDISI) of the School, to join forces the DESIS-China network and the global networks of DESIS LABS for driving sustainable change via the promotion of social innovation towards sustainability.

Objectives
The DESIS Lab (HK-PolyU) has been established based-on the following objectives:

• To facilitate sustainable change and lifestyle among MOP stratum in Hong Kong and urban China.
• To explore design/design research strategy for social innovation and sustainability relevant to cultural specificity.
• To explore methods and tools of design and research for driving sustainable, social change in the region.
• To promote DESIS related researches, pedagogical programs and entrepreneurships through regional, national and international collaborations.

Activities

• Sep. 2006 - Design Workshop, ‘Design for Sustainability’
• Aug. 2007 - Design Workshop, ‘Design for Sustainable Product Service System’
• Sep. 2007-2009 - International Forum, “Socially Yours: Alternative Design Networking Seminar”.
• Sep. 2007-2009 - Experimental project, design workshop ‘Product Design for Sustainability’
• Oct. 2009 - Collaborative initiative, DESIS-2009-2010
• Oct. 2009 - Exhibition, ‘Product Design for Sustainability’, 2^nd Riga International Young Designer Biennial, Latvia.
• Oct. 2009 - Design Workshops, “UPCYCLING DESIGN PROJECT”.
• Jun. 2010 - Design Exhibition, “Carpet, Banner and Leather – Experiments in Upcycling Design”, Hong Kong Airport.
• Feb. 2011 - Mdes/MBA Design Course/program, “Water in Bottles”
• Jun. 2011 - Special Issue on ‘Yunan Project’ in Design Research Journal
• Feb. 2012 - Mdes/MBA Design Course/ program, “When Bottles meet Water”
• Mar. 2012 - “Eco Living Exhibition”, joint coordination, Eco Home, CLP Ltd.

Primary Research Areas

• Local / Regional (HK/ China)
• Lifestyles and sustainability (Urban households)
• Product Design for Sustainability
• ICT Strategy/ Social media

Future Programs

• Jun. 2011-2013 lifestyle reorienting programme: ‘Sustainable MAKE, ACT, DO’ (SMAD), phase II
• Feb.- Mar. 2012 SPSS design programme - ‘Lesser for More’ (potential collaborators: FoE, GWWG, DESIS-China).

Main Partners

• founding members of the DESIS-China
• selective members of the LSDER-China
• EcoHome (CLP)
• Friends of the Earth (HK)
• Hong Kong Women Worker Association
• Department of Applied Social Science (HK-PolyU)
• Global Water Working Group, Cumulus (GWWG)
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Project Examples

• “Sustainable MAKE, ACT, DO” (SMAD), phase I, (Sustainable Lifestyle Design Initiative---sldi) (June/2011- present ) Website: http://www.sd.polyu.edu.hk/sldi/
• “In Search of Marginalized Wisdom” (Jun, 2005) Website: : http://www.hkcmp.org/cmp/c_002_craftsman.html
• “A Bridge too FAR” 无止桥 (Jun/ 2007) Website: http://www.arch.cuhk.edu.hk/server1/staff1/edward/www/b2c/en/project_sites/Gansu/Datan_Updates/Milestones_Oct07.htm
• Yunan Project (Jul/ 2007)
• Sustainable Product Design Initiative (Nov/2009-2010)