Master in Design for Distributed Innovation

Policy Brief: Download Globally Distributed Data Free Resources

The Master in Design for Distributed Innovation (MDDI) is a distributed learning program focused on the intersection of design, technology, ecosystems and communities to improve interspecies wellbeing. It connects a global community of changemakers with local innovators in order to address complex challenges. Combining online and hands-on learning, it supports the development of the social and technical skills needed to develop projects for positive impact in local communities that aim for global transformational change.

Projects Incubation Roundtable 2023: Join the Future of Innovation

About the Master

  • FORMAT: Distributed and hybrid.
  • WHERE: Worldwide. Online and in-person in association with participating nodes globally & Fab Nodes
  • LENGTH: 10 months. From October to July / Part-time
  • LANGUAGE: English.
  • PRICE: 12.000 EUR.
  • Fully Accredited by European Standards

Admission Requirements: Bachelor or higher degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Architecture and Urban Design, Graphic Design, Interaction Design, Computer Science, Engineering (Mechanical, Chemical, Product, Material), Sociology, Anthropology, Economy, and other related professions. 

A new way to approach design

Our Master in Distributed Design for Innovation is a hybrid learning experience with remote and in-person content that you can take from different FabLabs around the world so that you can impact locally in your society while connecting to a global community of change-makers.

Students profile

As a MDDI candidate, participants might be already working in the public or private sector, academic institutions or, may come from an entrepreneurial background having started their own business related to planetary restoration. The program aims to become a platform to boost and accelerate students’ capabilities to produce change in their own contexts, and to accelerate the transition towards a productive and sustainable model of production and consumption in their communities.

Creative industries & makers

Designers, Makers, Architects, Urbanists and Artists who want to expand their knowledge
by incorporating new design methodologies, technological skills and theoretical arguments to deploy in their personal and professional projects sustainably.

Entrepreneurs & social innovators

Professionals from all areas who wish to transform their ideas into social innovations or start their sustainable entrepreneurship by expanding their technical skills and design methods to become agents of positive change.

Government employees & NGOs

Professionals who are already making changes from inside in public services or non- governmental-organisations and want to accelerate the impact of policy by adopting an innovation culture.

Professional Opportunities

The program offers innovators and changemakers the opportunity to address global challenges in their working and living contexts to enable local transformation, by learning from and adapting global knowledge. MDDI graduates will have the possibility to integrate the knowledge acquired in the program in their working environments, or expand their research agenda after the program. At the same time, graduates with an existing business or initiative linked to the purpose of the program will have the opportunity to reinforce and scale up their reach, and incorporate new knowledge in their current mission.  An MDDI graduate might change or develop a new department within their organisation, or find work as Head of Innovation, Director of Strategic Design, Head of Research and Development, CEO of their own startup, or lead transformation projects in public and civil organisations.

Hear from our alumni

Discover firsthand what our MDDI students experienced during their transformative journey. Hear their thoughts, challenges, and triumphs as they share how the Master in Distributed Design Innovation has impacted their lives and aspirations.

Program Structure

As a distributed program, MDDI students will experience a mix of online seminars with in-person mentorships and the production of physical prototypes in their local nodes. The program is structured in three modules of one trimester each, plus a final project implementation. Each module focuses on different levels of the Full Stack, which are developed in three tracks: Ecosystems, Communities and Technology.

Faculty/Experts

Directors

Tomas Diez

Tomas Diez

Executive Board at Fab City Foundation / Fab City Global Investigator / MDEF Director / Board of Trustees Member / MaCT Theory Guest Faculty

Tomas Vivanco

Tomas Vivanco

Architect, Master in Advanced Architecture IAAC/ PhD(c) Digital Futures, Tongji University/ Fab Lab Austral UC Director / Professor School of Design Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

Faculty

Ronald Sistek

Ronald Sistek

CEO in Co Consulting, Organizational Regeneration.

Milena Calvo

Milena Calvo

Fab Lab Barcelona Communities Expert

Alysia Garmulewicz

Alysia Garmulewicz

Materiom co-founder

Kate Armstrong

Kate Armstrong

Head of Programing in Interspecies Internet, Executive board at Fab City Foundation

Thomas Duggan

Thomas Duggan

Artist and director of Thomas Duggan Studio.

Eduardo Chamorro

Eduardo Chamorro

Digital Fabrication Researcher, Fab Lab Barcelona

Lorenzo Patuzzo

Lorenzo Patuzzo

Founder of Akasha Barcelona, Ethereum Barcelona and greencitylab.org

Paulo Roberto Araujo Cruz Filho

Paulo Roberto Araujo Cruz Filho

Strategic Management, Weflow Global

Marion Real

Marion Real

Systemic Design Researcher, Fab Lab Barcelona

Giovanna Danies

Giovanna Danies

Biologist and Microbiologist, Associate Professor UAndes, Colombia

Liza Valença

Liza Valença

ESG, Impact Evaluation and Advocacy, Weflow Global

Elizabeth Corbin

Elizabeth Corbin

Materiom co-founder

Benito Juarez

Benito Juarez

Architect & Fabber.Co-founder of the Latin American Fab Labs Network

Santiago Fuentemilla

Santiago Fuentemilla

Future Learning Unit Head & Fab Academy Guru, Fab Lab Barcelona

Guillem Camprodon

Guillem Camprodon

Fab Lab Barcelona Research director

Fab Lab Barcelona Logo
IAAC-Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia
Fab Foundation 2016 Logo

Talk to us about MDDI

Josefina Nano

Josefina Nano

Programs Lead

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