_ About
Are you a recent design graduate passionate about using your skills to make a real difference in your community? Do you believe in a future where design is a driving force for equity, access, and innovation in health and care? The healthcare landscape is complex and constantly evolving and demands a new generation of designers who are not only skilled problem solvers but also compassionate change makers.
The Response_Able Futures programme is a two-year, joint master's programme in Design and Health_Care created to equip graduates to engage across care systems. From opening up access to local services to creating new products and services that respond to current unmet care needs to creating policies that support decision making in care facilities so the facility feels more like home; Response_Able Futures pushes not only the boundaries of design education but what it means to design for impact.
In the programme, students learn to navigate complexity, embrace change, reflect and prioritise; using design research as a means to identify gaps while learning to visualise and communicate to different stakeholders. By placing students in direct engagement with local and international healthcare contexts, the programme’s unique mobility scheme places students in three different European countries – Belgium, Portugal, and the UK – offering first hand exposure to different care cultures, healthcare systems and traditions.
Emphasising human and community-centred design, Response_Able Futures teaches students to approach health_care challenges with a deep understanding of user needs and the context in which these users live, work, play and thrive. Through Master Classes and intensive workshops, students gain the skills and knowledge to develop innovative, sustainable, and scalable solutions.
Response_Able Futures connects graduates to a global network of like-minded people through its vast network of experts, practitioners, and alumni who are equally passionate about inclusion, design equity, access to care, and improving healthcare services and products. Through industry placements, peer-teaching, and real-life, team-based coursework, students have the opportunity to collaborate, learn from each other, and build lasting connections. The programme merges a student’s personal ambition with that of a sense of responsible citizenry, resulting in graduates who will pioneer the agenda of inclusive health_care design in Europe and abroad.
_ Consortium
3600 Genk
Belgium
LUCA School of Arts, the largest art and design-focused university college in Flanders, Belgium, brings together five prestigious institutions across Brussels, Genk, Ghent, and Leuven. Integrated into one of Europe’s oldest universities, KU Leuven, which was formed in 1425, LUCA offers over 30 programs to over 4,000 students, spanning disciplines like audiovisual arts, music, fine arts, visual, product and game design, and more. It provides education from bachelor to PhD levels and collaborates extensively with national and international partners within both education as well as research.
LUCA School of Arts fosters a unique learning environment where renowned artists, designers, and researchers work directly with students and it is this cross-over between education and research that is one of its strengths. For Response_Able Futures, the LUCA research unit, Inter-Actions is most closely aligned to its design approach; specifically how the research there investigates the relationship between creators, their work, and their audience. More specifically, the Caring. And Design Research cluster focuses on empathy, health, and wellbeing in design, with a particular emphasis on participatory research and working with marginalised communities. Additionally, the cluster founded the Dementia Lab Conference, the world’s only conference dedicated to design and dementia.
Portugal
Founded in 1973, University of Aveiro (UA) ranks as one of the best universities of the world aged under 50 according to the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings. Since its inception, it has become one of Portugal’s most dynamic and innovative universities, and presently has over 15K students across 16 departments and 4 polytechnics, which stimulate knowledge exchange between different scientific fields. UA is a part of ECIU, and collaborates with major national/international entities on high-impact projects and research. UA's Design programs participate in the Master of European Design (MEDes) network. Its Master in Design program emphasises critical awareness and creative capacity, offering specialisations in areas like Communication Design, Interaction Design, and Health Design. This interdisciplinary approach is further reflected in the Research Institute for Design, Media, and Culture (ID+).
ID+ specialises in design research and creative interventions, fostering collaborations with science and innovation. Its Health+Design Lab (HEAD) addresses health literacy, ageing, and inclusion through multidisciplinary projects involving design, medicine, psychology, and other fields, with a focus on human-centred design research methodologies.
Founded in 1843, Sheffield Hallam University is one of the UK's largest and most diverse universities, with over 30,000 students and a global reach spanning 120 countries. The Sheffield Creative Industries Institute, offers a practice-led, research-enhanced experience, challenging students to create impactful work that pushes boundaries. With programs ranging from Fine Art to Product Design, students benefit from a collaborative curriculum, industry connections, and expert faculty.
The department is part of the Art, Design and Media Research Centre (ADMRC), recognized for its world-leading research in areas like creative practices in health and wellbeing, and physical and digital making. ADMRC also houses Design Futures, a knowledge transfer unit specialising in packaging and product design. Lab4Living, an interdisciplinary research centre within ADMRC, focuses on design for healthcare, particularly for the ageing population and the "Future Home." This internationally recognized living lab has conducted over 100 research projects and collaborates with numerous organisations globally. Lab4Living also established the Design4Health conference and the "Design for Health" journal, further solidifying its influence in the field.
_ People
The strength of a programme is only as strong as its people; the lecturers, the researchers, the support faculty, the invited experts and the students themselves. Meet the people behind the programme. Coming soon.
_ Erasmus Mundus Association
The Erasmus Mundus Association (EMA) is a global network of members of the greater Erasmus Mundus community. It aims to promote academic achievement, career growth, and cross-cultural interaction among Erasmus Mundus students and alumni internationally.
Students of Response_Able Futures are encouraged to join this community to gain advantages such as:
- A global network of Erasmus Mundus students and alumni
- Exclusive access to community development and professional development programs
- Volunteering opportunities within the organisation
- Opportunity to attend the annual EMA General Assembly
- Invitations to events, conferences, and training sessions
- Eligibility to apply for Erasmus+ Student and Alumni Alliance project funding
For more information, visit the EMA website: www.em-a.eu
_ For Students (downloads)
For students who have been accepted, the following documents related to the course are available for download:
