The objective of basic research for design is twofold: to produce knowledge for the application and continuous dissemination of the paradigm of people-centered innovation; to produce knowledge to frame and analyze, from a historical and cultural perspective, design as a model/paradigm of systemic sustainable innovation (which includes the individual within socio-cultural and technological systems of design/production and consumption).
The PNR 2015-2020 had positioned the area of Design, Creativity, and Made in Italy among the high-potential competence areas, meaning those areas for which “Italy possesses distinctive assets or competencies that must be supported with the aim of increasing their industrial impact.” The PNR (2021-2027) reaffirmed this positioning by reconnecting the dimension of fundamental design research also to the “missions” on which the Horizon Europe program was built.