Tec and 2 international universities innovate on responsible design

With participation from Tec de Monterrey, the international Winter School project was created to investigate the topic of Responsible Innovation applied to design.

This is an interactive and intensive learning and training program, which includes workshops, debates, and presentations.

In particular, this involves the departments or Schools of Architecture, Art and Design from the following three renowned Latino universities:

1. The University of Bologna (Italy),
2. Tecnológico de Monterrey, Guadalajara campus (Mexico), and
3. The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (Chile).

A joint and integrated training program was created by combining the values, theoretical notions, and tools of these universities.

This will allow the students and researchers involved to develop interdisciplinary skills on common topics. 

These include gender equality, ethics, collaborative design, new forms of governance, and open access strategies.

Roberto Íñiguez, Dean of the School of Architecture, Art and Design (EAAD) at the Tec, highlighted the importance of the Winter School for Tec de Monterrey:

“Since our vision is about leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship for human flourishing, Responsible Innovation is at the heart of what we do.”

How does it work?

Winter School includes workshops, debates, and presentations and will promote activities on the theme of Design through Responsible Innovation.

It will be based on the analysis of real cases in the territories of the 3 countries of the universities involved: Italy, Chile, and Mexico.

This topic will cover themes related to production, policies, tools, and services for a responsible society.

It will also encourage active collaboration with external stakeholders and organizations such as companies, government agencies, and associations in each country.

Elena Formia, Professor at the University of Bologna added: “We will develop experiential learning through project design at an international level.”  

“Since our vision is about leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship for human flourishing, Responsible Innovation is at the heart of what we do.”

Stages of the project

It will consist of 2 phases, which will each include an intensive one-week workshop. The first phase is in January 2021 and the second is in July of the same year.

Phase 1

Participants will work on the design of products/services that follow the principles of Responsible Innovation.

At the end of this phase, the finished projects will be evaluated and the best one will be selected for each university.

Phase 2

This stage will consist of a workshop to make an in-depth study of the top 3 winning products or services.

Those responsible for these prototypes will work in mixed groups of students from Italy, Chile, and Mexico, under the supervision of professors from the 3 universities.

By the end of these two weeks, students will have contributed to:

1. Adding value and sharing innovative resources to promote new products and services for a responsible society.
2. Developing transversal skills such as communication, prototype development, and working in multidisciplinary and international teams. 
3. Learning and applying a Learning by Doing approach through practice, with the support of stakeholders from outside academic life.
4. Developing an open catalog of projects developed together with students with an open-source perspective.
5. Creating a public display of each project produced during Winter School.

Getting down to work

The opening of the first workshop was held with a training session on responsible research and innovation.

There were also talks from speakers chosen jointly by the 3 universities, including topics such as:

1. Communication Design and Gender Cultures,
2. Design for Wellbeing and Environments for Healthy Aging, and
3. Food innovation.

This provides an opportunity for the exchange of knowledge between students and different settings, which will contribute to the creation of an environment for multicultural experimentation.

In collaboration with other international universities, Tec de Monterrey is therefore making a tangible contribution to the culture of design to continue leading the way in innovation.

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