Education and production systems. Innovation and growth: Contemporary roles for designers

This paper proposes a reflection on the relationships between the university and production systems based on the results analysis of 50 activities agreed by the DSA (Department for Architectural Science - University of Genoa) with companies, institutions and organizations in the period 2005-2011. The paper is divided into three parts. In the first part, “Innovation and growth”, the 50 agreements, the theoretical frameworks, the elements and criteria of the built dataset will be introduced, supported by the presentation of the most remarkable case studies. The second part will show how a graphic visualization was drawn as a methodological tool of analysis and will underline the observations that it suggested and highlighted. The third part will draw the conclusions, inducted by the work on the dataset, of the role of design and the needs for designer training.