This exciting new programme is intended to foster a new breed of designer for the 21st century. As the world undergoes massive, accelerated change, communities, cultures and societies are confronted by a variety of complex circumstances and systems, including disruptive technologies, ageing populations, economic instability, conflict and displacement, and environmental degradation.This programme will address the complex, real world challenges these communities face through design-led interventions driven by tactical, critical, strategic and creative approaches. It places an expanded notion of design practice at the heart of the enterprise of social, technical and environmental change and nurtures an interdisciplinary approach to these complex circumstances. Our approach starts with understanding designers as researchers, who weave the interstices of traditional design practice with new methodological approaches, fostered by a sense of curiosity regarding uncertainty and instability. This new breed is seeking to understand the diversity of sociocultural perspectives and practices employed by the fragile networks embedded within these significant global challenges.