Norway points the way in inclusive design

Editor Tom Vavik (middle) and co authors Rama Gheerawo and Onny Eikhaug feel “Inclusive Buildings, Products & Services” puts Norway on the design map. Photo: Henning Poulsen/Pressenytt

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Oslo: A new design textbook is set to put Norwegian design environments in the driver’s seat when it comes to inclusive design.

The newly launched textbook, “Inclusive Buildings, Products & Services” is a compilation of inclusive design know-how and experiences written by 16 professional designers, 10 of whom are Norwegian.The book is the first of its kind to emerge from the Nordic region.

“The Norwegian Design Council has been working systematically for many years to put its inclusive design strategy “Design for all” on the map in Norway. This book will help put Norway on the international Design for all map. We are leading the way in a specialist area that will become more and more important in the future,” says Onny Eikhaug, the Programme Leader  Design for all at the Norwegian Design Council and one of the authors of the book.  

Book editor Tom Vavik, Associate Professor at the Institute of Industrial Design at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, explains that the book is the fruit of two and a half years labour. “I have chosen three principal design themes, architecture, service design and product design, and have sought to find similarities in methods of working, ways of thinking, strategies and goals,” he adds.

Nordic first
Co author Rama Gheerawo feels the Norwegian book is an important work in its field, and can become a reference point for everyone who works with inclusive design, anywhere in the world.

“This is a definitive textbook on inclusive design, , and it is going to turn international focus in the area towards Norwegian and Nordic design,” says Gheerawo, a Research Fellow and Manager at the prestigious Helen Hamlyn Centre at the Royal College of Art in London.

He believes the book moves inclusive design out of its own specialist sphere and makes it highly relevant for architects, engineers and decision makers in both the private and public sectors.

“It is an academic textbook that is business oriented at the same time, which gives it a special quality. Historically, inclusive design has typically sat separated from industry and enterprise. This book collates the knowledge and practical experiences related to a variety of industries and sectors  – in a way that moves us forward,” says Gheerawo. That inclusive design puts people at the centre of its approach, means that this way of thinking fits very well with the Norwegian model of social democracy and equality for all,” he believes.

Meeting the demographic old age bulge
Tom Vavik feels the book fits in with the ongoing social debate on sustainability. “Inclusive design is about social sustainability, by including the needs of everyone in the design process, regardless of age, sex, culture or capability. The old age bulge is starting to be felt in Norway and the rest of the western world. Inclusive design will be a vital tool in meeting these challenges,” claims Vavik.

Onny Eikhaug emphasises that this will also open up major commercial opportunities for companies who invest in inclusive design.

“Firstly, there will be a constant stream of new legislation in Norway and many other countries that will require all products and services provided in public spaces to be accessible to everyone and socially inclusive. Secondly, elderly people and people with reduced capability will make up a steadily increasing proportion of the population. If you produce a product that can only be used by young and physically able people, you will be missing out on many potential customers,” stresses Eikhaug.

Enormous market
She illustrates this by pointing out that people over 55 years of age make up one third of the payroll in Norway and that this age group has an annual purchasing power corresponding to around NOK 300 billion.

“Inclusive design offers scope to create many new products and services, and there is a significant unexploited potential for innovation if you take this approach. Innovation comes in the design process, where understanding what users need leads to new ideas. Which is why it is so important that design is used as a tool for innovation, rather than to put an added gloss on an existing product,” adds Eikhaug.

Contacts:

• Tom Vavik, tel +47 997 07 191, email tom.vavik@aho.no
• Norwegian Design Council, Programme Leader Design for All,
  Onny Eikhaug, tel +47 23 29 25 53, 992 92 500, email oe@norskdesign.no
• Helen Hamlyn Centre, Rama Gheerawo, tel +44 (0) 20 7590 4242
• Norwegian Design Council, Head of Information Grete Kobro,
  tel +47 23 29 25 57, mob +47 907 65 971

This article has been written by Pressenytt for the Norwegian Design Council. Pressenytt has editorial responsibility for the content of this article.