Our Approach
To make society work better for children and young people we need to shift the underlying conditions that hold them back from thriving. We need preventative systemic approaches rather than reactive solutions to the symptoms of deeper underlying issues.
At Dartington Service Design Lab, we’re working for a future where people, communities and services work together to shape effective systems that give all children and young people a fair chance to grow up happy, safe, healthy and thriving. To do that, we use the power of evidence, experience and service design to tackle complex challenges for and with children and young people.
We think change is possible when all of these elements are considered together and that policies, services or interventions designed with consideration of rigorous evidence, the experience of children and families using those services and the wider systems and context are most likely to succeed.
Our values
Curious
•
Collaborative
•
Evidence Informed
•
Strive for Social Justice
Curious • Collaborative • Evidence Informed • Strive for Social Justice
With our focus on addressing root drivers, we pride ourselves on creating a deep and nuanced understanding about what really matters to children and young people. We forge new relationships and bring together different forms of evidence and insight to collaboratively design a better future in a way that shifts mindsets and redistributes power.
We are particularly focused on viewing this work through an anti-racist lens and ensuring that systemic change efforts are equitable and inclusive. This means recognising that the burden of the challenges facing children and young people falls unequally in our society, with the poorest and those from racially and ethnically minoritised backgrounds, amongst those bearing the heaviest loads.
We are constantly learning - and sharing that learning. We believe in iteration, adaptation and experimentation to create a network of efforts that work together to change the systems around children and young people.
And by demonstrating what is possible and building confidence over time, we incorporate these new ways of thinking and working into civic and public service architecture, so that change is sustained over the long-term.
“The challenges that children and young people face require everyone to reexamine what the most impactful role they can play is. We’re here to accelerate systemic change and collaborate with all of those invested in tackling inequality for children and young people.”
- Tim Hobbs, CEO