Kolding School of Design and the Bevica Foundation strengthen their collaboration and allocate a total of DKK 12 million for research and teaching in universal design

Universal design is the design of products and environments that can include and be used by all people, regardless of ability. With a grant of DKK 7 million from the Bevica Foundation running until 2030, and DKK 5 million in co-financing from Kolding School of Design over the same period, universal design becomes an even more integrated part of the school’s DNA. All bachelor’s and master’s students will encounter universal design in their teaching, and research in the field will be strengthened.

- We want to educate designers who create solutions for everyone, regardless of ability. With the new grant, we can embed universal design to an even greater extent in both teaching and research, while also inspiring a broader societal focus on equal opportunities, says Rector of Kolding School of Design, Carina Christensen.

Universal design is a key concept in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Denmark ratified in 2009. The concept is also a central driver in achieving the cross-cutting principle Leave No One Behind in the UN Sustainable Development Goals from 2015. Recently, universal design has also been included as one of the eight central principles in the government’s new national architecture policy, which was presented in early November by the Minister for Culture, the Minister for Social Affairs and Housing, and the Minister for Urban and Rural Affairs.

Builds on a strong collaboration
The collaboration between Kolding School of Design and the Bevica Foundation builds on a strong strategic partnership and programme from 2021 to 2025, during which the school has integrated universal design into teaching and research and developed teaching materials. Universal design has also been anchored as an important strategic and managerial focus at the school during this period.

In the industrial design programme, students have, among other things, learnt how methods within universal design are integrated, worked with people with disabilities, and explored new ways of understanding and implementing universal design in their projects. The school has also produced a significant number of research publications for the benefit of designers, researchers and students.

- Kolding School of Design has shown how universal design can be embedded across the school’s activities—from teaching and research to a managerial, strategic level. We are pleased to be able to continue the collaboration. We look forward to further strengthening knowledge and practice and thereby jointly contributing to fulfilling our shared commitments in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, says Director of the Bevica Foundation, Marianne Kofoed.

The partnership runs until the end of 2030 and will, among other things, help develop new teaching formats, strengthen collaboration with external partners, and generate new knowledge of universal design for the benefit of students, researchers and society as a whole.

• Facts
  DKK 12 million in the period 2026–2030, of which DKK 5 million is Kolding School of Design’s own contribution in the form of research time.
• The purpose of the grant is to strengthen research and teaching in universal design at bachelor’s, master’s and PhD level.
• The partnership builds on a strong collaboration from 2021–2025 between Kolding School of Design and the Bevica Foundation. 

Read more about the partnership here: https://www.bevicafonden.dk/partnerskab/designskolen-kolding

Below, you can explore selected projects from Kolding School of Design related to universal design.