LIST OF PANELS

The following panel is focussed on the interaction of design as a process oriented approach within the context of public policy development. The relationship between design and public policy has existed for quite some time within the context of both the field of policy studies as well as design studies respectively. The organizers of this panel intend to explore the role, contribution and limitations of ‘design for policy’ to public policy development.

Distinguishing between traditional views on ‘policy design’ as goal-oriented, analytical, knowledge-based, and departing from a given problem definition versus more contemporary

‘design for policy’ approaches as goal-seeking, creative, empathy-based, and aimed at reframing public issues, we focus on the latter.

While complimentary on paper, these two design orientations are often difficult to unite in practice. Public organizations generally have a long history of following the traditional policy design logic. Over years, this has become a ‘design legacy’, deeply embedded in the DNA of public organizations. This also means that introducing design for policy approaches creates tensions and difficulties. Consequently, design for policy is often only used as an instrumental or symbolic intervention in a process guided by other principles. The question then is how a productive interaction between these two design orientations can be realized.

Further, we seek to transcend the models of ‘design for policy’ and ‘policy design’ by seeking new forms of systems thinking when applied to the confluence of policy and design. In other words, we are attempting to find new ways of understanding this merger that have not yet been identified.

Overall, when and how should policyand design be integrated to or separated from one another in order to avoid frictions and realize synergies? What does this mean for the capabilities, roles, and interplay between the people involved in this interaction? And what does this imply for future policy-making processes, as well as its governance?

The chairs welcome contributions from practitioners and scholars that draw on practice and/or theory to illustrate and articulate the role and contribution of design to public policymaking. We are especially interested in (in-depth or comparative) case studies that shed light upon the interaction between design interventions, organizational practices and contextual influences. Academics who consider a theoretical approach will be of great value to the development of this panel which seeks to develop a bridge between a design studies perspective with that of a policy studies perspective in relation to the confluence of design and policy.

We especially welcome contributions that explore the following questions:

- What do design for policy practices and knowledge contribute to the policy making process?

- What are the main points of friction when introducing design for policy in a policy design context?

- Which strategies can be used to effectively incorporate design for policy into policy-making processes and to overcome eventual barriers and constraints?

- How do more design for policy practices contribute to more effective and legitimate policies and policy outcomes and which circumstances are more or less helpful?

- How do traditional approaches of policy design and new forms of design for policy relate to each other and how can they be effectively combined?