The general objective of the SID research observatory is to contribute to the growth of the research capacity of the Italian Design scientific community, with the following specific objectives:
- Define the role of design and, more specifically, the Italian Design Society, also in relation to other actors and in comparison with other countries;
- Monitor the “health status” of Italian design research and disseminate information, also to facilitate collaborations and thus the efficiency of scientific activity;
- Spread awareness of the design multiverse to different actors, overcoming a still frequent simplification;
- Highlight the research potential that the Design scientific community can offer to society (businesses, administrations, third sector…) also with the aim of activating funding channels – and in response to international and national challenges and in relation/comparison with other territorial realities;
- Stimulate reflection on the debate on the relationship between research/teaching/project;
- Enhance the diverse facets of the Italian design community, inclusively, beyond the quantitative dimension;
- Strengthen dialogue with different actors, stimulating synergies between the demand and supply of innovation;
- Encourage research collaboration between different university locations, also starting from bottom-up groups;
- Increase awareness of how central the discipline is in addressing contemporary challenges;
- Reclaim the centrality of the discipline by proposing a strong vision.
The observatory is a collection of snapshots, relating to various aspects of academic research in design: each snapshot is presented in variable content, for a flexible narrative, and accompanied by a downloadable dossier.