How do we move from focusing on the pursuit of excellence within individual design

disciplines to asserting a wider role for design in helping tackle some of the world’s

most pressing issues? Few would disagree that in today’s environment, transdisci-

plinarity is an essential ingredient to amplify the scope of design research to increase

its relevance and application. As much as we need to research deeply into individual

disciplines in order to add to their bodies of knowledge, we also need to look at

combining knowledge from diverse disciplines in order to tackle the various wicked

problems that beset contemporary society, and using design in a transdisciplinary

framework offers an innovative platform for this new dialogue.