After three years of exciting enrollment of talented young designers for our international master program in codesign, KADK has put this program on hold. The reason for this is a severe budgetary cut amounting to 38% imposed on KADK by government. This has set back the KADK by 30% measured by the number of student’s uptake over the coming years. Consequently, the uptake of students at the Design School will be reduced to 70 per year.
Of course, we sincerely hope and believe, that putting the international MA program in codesign on hold is of a temporary nature. Hopefully the program can regain its position in the future KADK.
For us who have witnessed the energy and commitment of our codesign students in the collaborative engagement with so different collaborators as UNDP and youth in Kosovo, Copenhagen Municipality and kids in the Copenhagen neighborhood of Tingbjerg and GN Hearing and hearing impaired people, it is quite disappointing that we cannot take in new students at the MA program in codesign this year.
However, Center for Codesign Research (CODE) is remaining, and has been expanded with two more people in permanent positions at KADK. Thus, we will continue teaching and tutoring students in codesign both at BA and MA level. In the future, CODE will be embedded in the visual design department. Codesign will be encompassed and influence the new programs within this department both in terms of methods and project engagements. Students with an interest in a codesign specialization at master level may apply for one of the two MA programs at the visual design department already this year.
Additionally, KADK plans to set up a professional master program in codesign. How this will play out is still to be seen, but one of the options that we are looking into is to form a joint degree program with other institutions in the Copenhagen area.
Whatever the future brings, two strong classes of codesign students will remain and continue their master program as planned. And in CODE we will keep on promoting codesign and design research addressing complex societal challenges through projects with real issues and real partners.
