Measurable impact is an often expected and required outcome of innovation programs, and yet is particularly challenging for trying to understand social impact. The overt focus on economic value often overshadows other, more impactful social outcomes, such as learning, that emerge as a result of the work. In this paper, Joyce Yee, Bas Raijmakers, and Fumiko Ichikawa use transformative learning theory (TLT) to explore the types and ranges of transformative learning that take place in design and social innovation (D&SI).
The aim of the paper Transformative Learning as Impact in Social Innovation is to reorient the discussion on D&SI impact by focusing on transformative learning as a form of social value. Using examples of and reflections on projects sited in various cultural contexts, such as a STBY case study in the UK and a Re:public case study in Japan. Joyce Yee is an Associate Professor at Northumbria University’s School of Design. She is the co-author of the book Design Transitions to which STBY also contributed.
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Design and Culture: The Journal of the Design Studies Forum, on 11 March 2019, available online.