The Lost Innovative Potential / Embodied pathways for the policy(maker)

An investigation into the future of policymaking, where tools are geared towards aiding the policy (maker) to address complex challenges for the purposes of inclusion. What might be the emerging role of the designer?

June 2022 - Present

Women, minoritised groups and children from low-income families do not participate in the innovative economy at the same rate as white men from high income families. Across the developed world, if marginalised communities were to invent (the first step in the process of innovation) at the same rate as children from the top 1% of earners, the rate of innovation would be transformative. Unlocking this untapped potential would benefit both people and planet, so why has policy(making) struggled to make progress on this front?

Many perspective lenses may be used to understand the complex challenge of the Lost Innovative Potential; from the lack of evidence-based approaches to underutilised data. Beneath lies an even grander challenge: how might policymakers better navigate uncertain terrains, where no one possible solution or answer exists (such as the case of designing inclusion). Embodied pathways for the policy(maker) uses deep design research to generate new knowledge(s) on what designing inclusion means, testing experimental sensemaking techniques with the aim of enabling more inclusive innovation systems.