The UBI DESIS 5th Social Design Days, held under the theme “Promoting Social Design”, brings together researchers, educators, students and practitioners to reflect on the role of design in addressing contemporary social, territorial and environmental challenges. The event provides a platform for critical discussion on socially oriented design practices, highlighting participatory approaches, collaboration and community-centred design processes across research, education and professional contexts.
Originally initiated at the Escuela Superior de Diseño de Aragón (ESDA), Zaragoza, the Social Design Days have become a space for exchange within the DESIS community and its wider network. The 2026 edition marks the first time the event is organised at the University of Beira Interior (UBI), reinforcing the institution’s engagement with socially oriented design research and education. In full articulation with ESDA Desis Lab, this event is coordinated by the iA* Lab DES’SIDE, a member of the DESIS Network since 2025 and partner of its ‘Design from the Margins’ Work Group. The result of this institutional compromise and partnership can be seen in UBI DES’SIDE EXHIBITION at Wool Museum, Royal Veiga Factory nuclei (MUSLAN), through PhD, Master’s and Bachelor’s students’ projects.
Another central component of this edition is its plenary sessions, which bring together invited international speakers to foster dialogue on the current challenges and perspectives of social design. These sessions aim to expand the discussion beyond disciplinary boundaries, connecting design practice with broader social, cultural and territorial contexts.
Alongside the plenaries, panels and workshops explore situated design approaches and their relation to territory, local knowledge and collective well-being. In this context, the panel “Social Design and Innovation from the Mountains”highlights mountain territories as relevant contexts for examining how design can engage with place-based realities and contribute to locally grounded processes of change.
Registration Links for Workshops and Dinner:
KEYNOTES
Cecilia Casas Romero holds a Law degree from UNED, a MA in Sociology of Public and Social Policies at University of Zaragoza and has studied Artistic Photography at EAH. She currently teaches photography and social design at the Escuela Superior de Diseño de Aragón (ESDA) in Spain. She specializes in Practice and Education in Social Design with communities in vulnerable situations or at risk of social exclusion. She also applies the social uses of artistic photography and the Photovoice methodology to her work with disadvantaged communities. She coordinates ESDA’s DESIS Laboratory, which has developed its own unique programme in which more than a third of ESDA’s teachers are involved. She is working to make this social design education programme transferable to other educational environments, developing research to produce a model that serves this purpose. She organizes the ESDA DESIS Social Design Days, which bring together leading figures in social design education from around the world, including Ezio Manzini (Politecnico de Milan, Lorraine Gamman, Adam Thorpe and Francesco Mazzarella (UAL)). She co-founded along with Francesco Mazzarella (UAL) the DESIS Cluster “Design from the Margins” in which more than 20 universities from all around the word are involved. Along with Dr. Francesco M. and the Social Design Network they lead the CUMULUS Working Group DESC (Design Education for Social Change), they have delivered workshops in which more than 30 teachers from different international Design Schools have participated, to date. Her ongoing PhD research focuses on defining a model for educational institutions teaching social design to create healthy working environments (WHO, 2010).
Francesco Mazzarella is a design researcher, educator, and activist, striving to create positive social change, especially working with marginalised communities. As Reader in Design for Social Change at London College of Fashion, UAL, he explores how design activism can be used to create counter-narratives towards sustainability, in and through fashion. Francesco’s research spans design activism, textile craftsmanship, decolonising fashion, design for sustainability, social innovation, and place-making. Francesco is a member of the Design Council Expert Network, Fellow of Advance HE, Co-founder of the DESIS Cluster ‘Design from the Margins’ and of the Cumulus Working Group ‘Design Education for Social Change’.
Dr Nicos Souleles (PhD, AMCollT, FCES) is an accomplished academic and independent researcher specialising in social design education, design education, and technology-enhanced learning. He earned his PhD in Educational Research from Lancaster University, concentrating on e-learning in art and design. Dr Souleles has held various teaching and leadership roles across Australia, England, the United Arab Emirates, and Cyprus.
His research interests include social design education, learning design, curriculum development, digital and multimedia design, and integrating the UN Sustainable Development Goals into higher education curricula. He leads the “Art + Design: Learning Lab – Design for Social Change,” engages in European projects focused on digital upskilling and sustainable assessment, and co-edits DISCERN, the International Journal of Design for Social Change, Sustainable Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.
Claire Pillar is a freelance editor and proofreader with degrees in History (BA), Asian Studies (MA) and Public Health (MPH). She also has diplomas in Librarianship and Marketing Communications. Until 2025, she was an associate of the Art + Design Lab: Elearning at Cyprus University of Technology. Now based in the UK, she is the copy editor for Discern, the International Journal of Design for Social Change, Sustainable Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.