Following on from the business interest focused around the meeting of Premier Wen Jiabao with Prime Minister David Cameron earlier this month the Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) has announced a major collaboration which will see membership of the Society made available to designers throughout mainland China, Taiwan, Macao and Hong Kong.At a signing ceremony in Beijing on Tuesday 5 July, Chief Executive of CSD, Frank Peters signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mr. Xing Lei, the Chief Executive of the Dragon Design Foundation (DDF) which sees the two organisations working together to promote the highest standards of professional design practice in China.
Commenting on the collaboration Frank Peters said, “This is truly a major event not just for CSD and DDF but most importantly for the design profession and those who receive the benefits design can bring to everyday life. It is a collaboration that benefits designers, commerce and ultimately society. We are continually reminded that the world is watching China to see how it will tackle issues of manufacturing and its effect on our environment and we share those concerns but we cannot just watch. We have all shared the benefits of China’s global repositioning and therefore we have a responsibility to engage, share knowledge, offer support and assist in creating a sustainable industrial model and professional design practice has a major role to play in this strategy.”
The signing of the MoU comes six years after CSD commenced its discussions with DDF at their inaugural design festival in Qingdao. Over this period the Society had discussions with the major design discipline organisations in China as well as industry, educational institutions and government representatives.
Mr. Xing Lei of DDF said, “It was clear from our first meeting with CSD that there was a mutual desire to help designers develop their profession in preparation for the difficult tasks ahead in developing a sustainable economy which respects the values of people and the environment. The world recognises the leading role the UK plays in design and it is also aware of the global power of China as a producing and consuming nation. It makes perfect sense for the professional body for design in the UK and the leading design foundation in China, both of which represent designers across all disciplines, to collaborate in bringing together designers from both nations for mutual development and benefit.’ He added, ‘The standards operated by CSD are respected by DDF and we will be promoting these throughout China”.
The CSD membership structure and the CSD Genetic Matrix on which it and other programmes are based will be adopted by DDF and promoted across the professional design sector in China.
Chris Ramsden, President of CSD commenting on the signing said, “The importance of this agreement cannot be overstated coming at a time when design collaboration has such a critical role to play in solving the issues we all face. The Society has worked relentlessly over the past decade to establish and refine a structured basis for professional practice that harmonises with other professional sectors and design communities in other countries and this agreement is a great endorsement of the Society and an achievement for the UK design profession”.
