The Social Design Lab in the Department of Visual Communication at Bezalel maintains an academic partnership with SWPS University within an international research group focused on Designing Positive Social Change.

The group, consisting of lecturers and students from both institutions, investigates how visual communication design can serve as a tool for research, action, and education to promote social justice, equality, inclusion, and interpersonal sensitivity.

Following the first workshop held in May 2025 at SWPS University in Wrocław, the second workshop will take place on 12 November at Bezalel’s campus in Jerusalem.  Both workshops are part of a long-term process of building a Social Design Index – a research and educational tool aimed at collecting, mapping, and sharing knowledge, practices, and methods of design that have a tangible impact on social change.

Polish-Israeli seminar titled  “Design as Direct Action”shall take place on Wednesday, 12 November, at 17:00

The evening will feature discussions among four creators and designers active in various spheres of social, political, and cultural design. The discussions will be conducted in an open dialogue format and will explore how design can initiate change, propose new courses of action, and influence real social spaces.

The project is based on the understanding that design for social change is an ethical, empirical, and outcome-oriented practice, evaluated not only through communication outputs but also through participatory processes, measurement, and assessment of real impact. It operates across three integrated dimensions: design practice, theoretical research, and design education – with the designer seen as an active participant in social transformation processes.

Link to Bezalel Social Design Lab