Master in Design for Distributed Innovation
The 4th Application Period for the academic year 2024/25 is now open until the 31st of May 2024
A remote and on-site hybrid learning program focused on the intersection between design, technology, ecosystems and communities to improve interspecies wellbeing.
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.
General information
- 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.
- TUITION FEE: 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
Five reasons to apply for MDDI
Global community
Join the Fab City Network, connect with Fab Labs worldwide and collaborate with students and alumni from Fab Lab Barcelona and the Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia.
Put local knowledge into practice
Use technology to drive innovation and create sustainable solutions in your community and cities.
Balance your life
Our flexible structure allows you to manage your studies, work and personal projects efficiently
Cutting-edge skills
Learn from top international faculty in design-driven innovation, gaining a comprehensive toolkit for real impact.
International European accreditation
Get a fully accredited European Master's degree without leaving your country.
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.
Alumni Testimonials
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
Executive Board at Fab City Foundation / Fab City Global Investigator / MDEF Director / Board of Trustees Member / MaCT Theory Guest Faculty
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
Santiago Fuentemilla
Future Learning Unit Head & Fab Academy Guru, Fab Lab Barcelona
Ronald Sistek
CEO in Co Consulting, Organizational Regeneration.
Elizabeth Hénaff
Computational Biologist at NYU
Thomas Duggan
Artist and director of Thomas Duggan Studio.
Kate Armstrong
Head of Programing in Interspecies Internet, Executive board at Fab City Foundation
Elizabeth Corbin
Materiom co-founder
Charlene Smith
Leads Life-Friendly Chemistry Research and Application at Materiom
Pilar Bolumburu
Materials Researcher at Materiom
Adam Burns
Thinker & Doer at the Dyne.org Foundation
Stefano Bocconi
Software engineer at Dyne.org
Paulo Roberto Araujo Cruz Filho
Strategic Management, Weflow Global
Giovanna Danies
Biologist and Microbiologist, Associate Professor UAndes, Colombia
Liza Valença
ESG, Impact Evaluation and Advocacy, Weflow Global
Benito Juarez
Architect & Fabber.Co-founder of the Latin American Fab Labs Network
Guillem Camprodon
Fab Lab Barcelona Research director