Dott 07 was a collaboration between the Design Council and, in 2007, the regional development agency One North East. Its aim was to create innovative responses to social issues using design as a process to get there.
When Dott 07 started, we envisaged a bold public showcase for design. It would excite, galvanise and inspire people across a whole region. It would involve them too, making them active participants in design processes rather than passive consumers. And it would leave lasting benefits, attracting national attention to design’s role in creating sustainable communities and improving everyday life.
Did it succeed? More than 200,000 members of the public engaged - including the 15,000 school children who responded magnificently to our design briefs and projects - are a powerful indicator. But numbers tell only part of the story.
Dott put into action a vision for how design can generate grassroots innovation that leads ultimately to new, better services. In Dott’s Public Design Commissions, the public was the client, and also the co-designer. It was a collaboration that defined problems, from rural transport to sustainable food, and worked through them to find and prototype solutions.
The people of the North East and designers took up the vision and ran with it. And the results have resonated locally and nationally. To cite just two examples, the DASH project to design a new sexual health service has produced a blueprint taken up by Primary Healthcare Trusts, while the Low Carb Lane project has led to an innovative financial package to help low income households cut carbon emissions. The concept is going forward with funding from One North East.
Meanwhile at national level, design-led public service modernisation is part of government policy. The New Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills has taken forward a range of practical recommendations in the Innovation White Paper, many of which will be implemented in partnership with the Design Council.
All this is real, tangible success. It’s down to the work of many people, including dedicated design teams, public and private sector partners and the visionary contribution of One North East.
Thanks to them all, the next Dott has quite an act to follow.
Browse through case studies of eight public design projects that made up Dott 07