Executive Summary
At this point in time, when the IED celebrates its fifty years of experience in the field of the education of Design professionals, its reflections should be directed in two directions: on the one hand, the recognition of a plural trajectory rich in successes that today make the IED a reference model for all those who work in this field; on the other hand, to direct an open look at the great changes of our time, be they economic, political, social or cultural, a perspective that positions us facing a global and complex situation that will influence the societies of the future.
To adapt to this new situation requires a multiple process of structural and strategic adaptation. This adaptation can only be achieved as a result of a culture of innovation that adopts coherent processes and methodologies with the purpose of developing a series of effective mechanisms. Innovation policies must now occupy a high priority in the strategy of all areas of the IED. These policies must be accompanied by a series of rules and procedures that are consistent with the achievement of objectives.
But every process of innovation requires certain simultaneous institutional and individual changes. It is our task to launch a series of processes that will transform our teaching model and personnel policies as well as the integration of all the players involved in the different phases of the training project.
Here are the requirements that we pose to the IED, if it really wants to be a global player when it comes to outlining the future and so participate in the construction of new educational models in the field of Design:
- It needs to create a cosmopolitan cultural model, open to the different cultures and main trends present in the contemporary world.
- It has to explore and articulate the new fields to which Design is applied, the areas that are situated on the horizon of post-industrial society.
- To do this, it would have to generate new training spaces, new work methods to link our schools, teachers, students, professionals and companies, thus creating a vast IED community of global influence.
- The new training models must respond to the idea of experimentation, which will allow for the search and generation of knowledge.
- It must give importance to the architecture of the Network, the specific and distinctive structure of the IED, both as a communication and work system.
This, in short, is the strategy that the Scientific Committee proposes as a guideline and instrument of dialogue between the IED and its future.