These are some worrying results from new research commissioned by the Royal Society of Arts.
The survey, conducted to mark the 90th anniversary of the RSA Student Awards, shows that nearly three-quarters of people in the UK don’t feel able to use creativity to turn their ideas into reality and create change around them.
Equipping people with design skills is “key to solving the 21st century’s “most intractable problems” says the RSA and we couldn’t agree more.
RSA Student Design Awards manager Sevra Davis added: “Traditional approaches to problem-solving and innovation – in government, in business and in society – are failing to adequately respond to complex problems.”
“It’s vital that we encourage the next generation of designers to pour their energies into tackling real-world economic and environmental issues and continue to push the boundaries of what good design can achieve.”
Davis is definitely channeling Ken Garland’s ‘First Things First‘ design manifesto here and we hope to see an increased focus on design education from the next government, whoever will be in charge!