About the Project

The promotion of social inclusion is one of the core topics of the European Union. The aim of Design Thinking is to discover and understand existing needs in order to eventually be able to develop innovative solutions. The process includes methods that enable empathy with people. In the individual steps of the process, a balance is sought between analytical and creative thinking. 

In the Design Thinking for Social Inclusion project we implemented Design Thinking for teachers and learners in three exemplary areas that are of immense importance for social inclusion: Social Entrepreneurship, Community Work and Sustainability Management. These three key topics have been chosen because of their importance in fostering social inclusion:

• Social entrepreneurship works as an antidote to curb the practices of social exclusion.

• Community work is combining social work with active participation of beneficiary groups i.e. in schools, neighborhoods or communities.

• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations are focusing on ending poverty, protecting the planet and improving the lives and prospects of everyone; thus a successful and inclusive local sustainability management works directly for the benefit of socially marginalized groups. 

A central outcome of the Design Thinking for Social Inclusion project is this interactive learning platform that can be used by teachers and trainers to develop face-to-face or blended learning workshops based on the design thinking process. The platform enables self-directed on spot e-learning. Training modules on the platform specified for the three focus areas (social entrepreneurship, sustainability management, community work) cover the entire Design Thinking process, suggest methods to go through the 6 different iterative steps of the process, and give examples from the practical implementation in the work of the project partners. The training platform includes short video tutorials to illustrate the process and individual training activities.

With the help of the platform and its content, institutions and individuals across Europe are enabled to apply Design Thinking for themselves and for their target groups in a well-structured and human-centered way.

The transnational d.thinking team during a project meeting in Skopje / North Macedonia