The design industry across the UK needs a constant flow of great entry-level talent, but that pipeline is under threat. With little equity of access to creative subjects at school and the rising cost of a higher education to name but too issues, it’s more important than ever that higher education institutions (HEIs) and design businesses come together. We need to make sure that courses deliver the education students need to be able to respond to the requirements our industry needs. Only then will the UK remain a destination for creative ingenuity.

Neither side can do this alone.

In partnership with the Council for Higher Education in Art & Design (CHEAD), the DBA is hosting five regional roundtable discussions to explore how education and industry can collaborate to secure the future of great design talent.

This online session brings those conversations together. It’s an opportunity for designers and those in education to hear from colleagues with different perspectives, share ideas, and contribute to the findings. Only together we can commit to creating meaningful collaboration between university and businesses – to reinvigorate, to diversify and to strengthen the creative workforce, and to nurture the talented designers our industry needs.

Over the course of the 90-minutes, we’ll focus on five key areas of discussion:

• Design skills and knowledge the industry need
  How can education and industry align on the skills and experience graduates need to thrive in studio life? Where are the gaps – and who’s best placed to close them?
• Locality
  With London becoming less of a draw, how can HEIs countrywide and the agencies on their doorstep strengthen design networks and talent pipelines to help guide local talent into local businesses?
• Attracting talent into courses
  As foundation courses decline, how can HEIs and industry connect with schools and colleges to widen access and build more inclusive entry routes?
• Diversity and workplace expectations
  What are graduates looking for in their first roles, and how can studios embrace new perspectives while managing generational differences?
• The impact of AI on entry-level roles
  How is AI reshaping entry-level opportunities, and what does this mean for how we prepare the next generation of designers?

Through this series of roundtables, provocations and knowledge exchange, DBA and CHEAD members are working together to shape a design-led education and industry skills system fit for the future. Our aim is to create a framework that sustains the skills pipelines, embeds industry needs, and future-proofs opportunities for students, graduates, alumni and existing designers.

Register now to join this discussion on Thursday 27 November from 4-5:30pm GMT.