One year on from the Design for Policy ‘unconference’

A year ago, in Brussels the EU Policy Lab opened its doors to host a different kind of gathering: an “unconference” format for practitioners bridging design and public policy across Europe. The aim was to bring together designers to reflect on our practices, share examples and explore how we might collaborate across European countries.

Why a network of policy designers? 

The challenges facing public policy today are increasingly complex and interwoven. No single discipline or country holds all the answers. The unconference on 28 November 2024 brought together designers, researchers and public-sector policy professionals active at every level: from the international and national, to the regional and local levels. Right from the outset, participants highlighted the urgent need for networks that can operate across boundaries: networks that connect disciplines, pool learning, and amplify creativity for public good. 

Leaving that day, there was a strong sense that connection should not end at the event doors. So, two of the participants, Anni Leppänen and Kalle Pettersson took up the tasks to bring everyone along this journey. They invited the group that met in Brussels and stepped into the role of co-organising our subsequent online Community of Practice: the idea is to keep people talking, sharing, collaborating and learning between formal conferences and events, building continuity and trust across Europe. 

What happened in Brussels 

The Brussels gathering set the tone for an open, participatory ethos. We began the day by inviting participants to fill out a “who is in the room” wall: an analogue data-visualisation of Scale (the level of their work), Practice (which design method or approach they use) and Area (the thematic domain of their work). The wall represented visually by ‘flowers’ whose lengths indicated scale of work was a powerful way to map the diversity of the group.  It quickly became clear just how varied, and yet how complementary, the group’s experiences really were.  

Key topics included breaking down silos in policymaking, expanding the definition of evidence beyond traditional metrics, and experimenting with policy prototypes in real-world settings. We also explored how to design policies that consider the needs of future generations and how creative approaches can reshape social value. These conversations highlighted the importance of networks, experimentation, and long-term thinking in creating more adaptive and inclusive policy frameworks.  

Guiding questions emerged:  

• How do we open doors across national boundaries?  

• How do we bring creative practice and collective imagination inside governments?  

• What does it mean to prototype policy intentions?  

• How do we surface new types of ‘evidence’?  

• How might intergenerational thinking change how we design policy?  

Reflections from the past year 

After the meeting in Brussels, there was a real sense of momentum within the group that resulted in a regular online gathering made of:  peer exchanges, one-on-one interviews, presentations, discussions on specific topics, sharing WIP, and case studies. The main goals for this community crystallised around: 

• strengthening bonds across countries and disciplines
• create more occasions to come together beyond and alongside conference and other events
• Building a shared understanding "design for policy” in a European (and multi-level) context, comparing approaches and methods, learning from differences and similarities 

One clear goal and practical challenge for this group was to share our practical work and definition of Design for Policy: some saw it as a creative approach to governance, others as a more strategic, technical intervention.  We also explored the role of evidence and interdisciplinarity in policymaking, questioning what counts as valid evidence and how research from different fields contributes to design.  

Yet, with all its energy, the network also faced common challenges: sustaining engagement when members are geographically dispersed and building momentum without a single anchoring project.  Still, we are glad of what we accomplished and excited for the future development of this group of people and their connections. 

A shift, looking forward 

The journey we started in Brussels and carried through the year points toward a broader ambition: embedding design for policy in European governance not just as an add-on, but as an integrated practice at all levels. The network we have built is not simply a membership list: it is a relational living infrastructure.   

In that first online meeting community of practice, when we collectively reflected on the five years' timeframe, we depicted Design for Policy as a movement that has expanded design literacy among policymakers, influenced key policies, and positioned design as an integral part of multidisciplinary teams across the EU. 

 We are trying to keep the network alive with a more casual approach.  For now, we are experimenting with “office-hour sessions” were we keep a Teams-link open for an hour once a month where people can drop by for spontaneous dialogue, mutual support and cross-country collaboration.  

The invitation is open: whether you identify as designer, policymaker, researcher or public servant working on design for policy this is a community for you. jrc-eu-policy-labec [dot] europa [dot] eu (Join us) as we continue to experiment, connect and explore what it means to design policy not just for now, but for future generations, across scales and across borders.