RESEARCH BACKGROUND
Hands-on Design Experiments
CONTACT US
• The Localisation of Inclusive Design in China: Current Realities
• Research in Academia
• From Theory to Practice: How Chinese Universities Are Advancing Inclusive Design In Practice
• The Opportunities and Challenges of Inclusive Design
• A Hands-On Method of Design — Practice and Reflection in the Chinese Context
• The International Value of China’s Social Design
The Localisation of Inclusive Design
in China:
Current Realities
In China, there has been significant progress in the transformation of the design education discipline. According to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Education, the number of students majoring in design has increased by about 30% since 2015, reflecting the growing demand for innovative and diversified design. However, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the number of urban and rural poor in China has decreased from 98.99 million in 2012 to 5.51 million in 2020. Nevertheless, the income gap between urban and rural areas in China remains significant, and the ageing society, which is more than one-quarter of China’s population, will be over 60 by 2040 and will be less economically active. Design has traditionally been perceived primarily as a functional profession, but there remains a nascent understanding of design's potential to be a tool to change society. This makes inclusive design an essential means of achieving social equity and improving the understanding of future challenges.As an emerging advocate for inclusive design, Boey, alongside Biin, an emerging leader of interdisciplinary future solution research, feels a deep sense of responsibility to bridge the gap and foster dialogue between China and the Netherlands on some of our time's most pressing societal issues.