The project
The projetc Design Sprint 4ETS involved organizing three co-design events focused on social innovation topics. These events were held in different locations and at various times throughout 2023. Using the adapted Design Sprint 2.0 methodology, these sessions were tailored to the unique goals and operational capabilities of the participating social enterprises.
The project emphasized social innovation by applying design thinking approaches and strategic planning to develop services and solutions with significant social or environmental impact.
The main goal was to connect a group of young designers, with expertise in Strategic and Service Design, with three social enterprises (ETS).
The project involved the participation of three social enterprises from Lombardy and one from Turin: Cooperativa Alchimia of Bergamo, Cooperativa Sociosfera of Seregno, and Cooperativa Itaca of Romano di Lombardia (BG), in collaboration with MinD Association from Turin.
The Benefit Corporation Studio SHIFT organized the workshops and, for each design challenge, selected up to 20 participants from leading universities within the design ecosystem of Northern Italy. This was achieved through three dedicated Call for Participants, ensuring an optimal match between the workshop themes and the students’ expertise.
The primary beneficiaries of the Design Sprint 4ETS project were young designers specializing in Strategic and Service Design, interested in working on social innovation. Secondary beneficiaries were the three Third Sector Entities (ETS) that embraced the opportunity to collaborate with young designers on developing tailored design solutions. The outcomes of the three Design Sprints provided 11 design solutions to the ETS, demonstrating the quality and robustness of the applied methodology to benefit Lombard social enterprises.
The Design Sprint 4ETS project was one of the winners of the DEMO 2022 grant, promoted by the Lombardy Region. This grant supports some of the most innovative initiatives in the Design and Fashion sectors within the region.
What are Design Sprints 2.0?
The Design Sprint is a process designed to generate innovative ideas and solve significant problems in just a few days. It helps clearly define objectives and challenges and enables the creation of a high-level prototype that is tested with real users.
Dissemination
To facilitate the dissemination of the results from the project Design Sprint 4ETS and the experimentation of the Design Sprint method across different topics and sectors, a printed book and a digital e-magazine have been created in both Italian and English. These will be distributed within university networks and the cooperative sector.
The book DESIGN FOR SOCIAL. Boosting innovation in social enterprises recounts the experience of the project Design Sprint 4ETS. It aims to be an opportunity to gather significant contributions from authoritative Italian voices on the topic of social design for social innovation. These contributions come from both academic and professional fields, and the goal is to provide the social enterprise sector with insights, reflections, and perspectives that can help expand the debate on which innovations are most suitable for the future development of the Third Sector and how they can be implemented.