“Citizens should no longer just be passive recipients of welfare benefits” and “citizens will have to pay for welfare services to a much higher degree than is the case today” - those are some of the more radical ideas for how to design the future British welfare model under ’Big Society’. Also the British design institution, the Design Council is an inspiration for how the cooperation between public institutions and designers contributes to solving difficult, public challenges.
 

UK BIG SOCIETY. The expanded concept of society

The United Kingdom is facing huge challenges. Government budgets have to be shrunk by vast amounts in coming years. Under the heading “The Big Society” the British government has launched a radical vision of the future society and welfare model. This is a vision that turns traditional notions of the roles and contributions of state and citizens upside down.

Voluntary organisations, local communities and the citizens themselves have to become much more involved in the democratic process and in public services. Already, a network of social innovators has been established to ensure that the ideas are carried out. Four pioneer boroughs are to test the model and gather experiences.

A commission including the brightest minds from both the private and public sectors has been established and has articulated radical ideas for innovation of the British welfare model. Under the heading “From social security to social productivity: a vision for 2020 Public Services” the commission’s final report radically challenges the past in three main areas.

Culture Families, local communities and companies should be partners for government in achieving social results. The citizens should no longer be passive recipients of welfare service. One implication of this partnership is the delegation of competences to local decision-makers and the intro-duction of lifecycle social accounts that let citizens track both their payments to the public sector and the services and benefits they receive.

Power The relations between citizens and state should be reconfigured. Citizens should have greater control over spending on health, care and education.

Finance Citizens should pay a larger share of services that benefit them personally.
Source: Mandag Morgen
 

The approach of the British Design Council

The state-owned British Design Council is one of the world’s leading design organisations. It is an investment in British design and in the economic future of the United Kingdom. By carrying out projects in the public and private sectors, the Design Council demonstrates how design can be used to build a stronger economy and improve every-day life.

The Design Council connects corporate decision-makers with the right design to address problems and challenges, working directly with corporate management and offering tools and guidance for the use of design.

The Design Council also counsels university research departments in commercialising new technological inventions and establishes cooperation between public-sector organisations and designers in an effort to address national challenges.