Desis Network

What Desis Network does

DESIS Network is a non-profit cultural association that operates a global network of higher education institutions and design schools committed to design for social innovation and sustainability. Formally registered in 2014 and coordinated internationally through Polimi DESIS Lab at Politecnico di Milano in Italy, the network connects design academics, researchers, and students who orient their design and research activities toward social innovation. Its core offering consists of DESIS Labs—embedded groups within member universities—that operate locally with community partners while participating in large-scale international projects, events (General Assemblies, DESIS Café, Conversations for the Planet), and thematic clusters including Design for Social Cohesion, Urban Infrastructure, Human/Nature Relationships, Regenerating Commons, and Design With All Beings.

The organization's methodology centers on collaborative design approaches such as community-centered design, participatory processes, co-design with vulnerable communities, design for urban infrastructure, and design for regenerating commons. The business model is membership-based: legally constituted higher education institutions or universities with design disciplines commit to establishing and sustaining a DESIS Lab, with member contributions supporting international network activities, coordination projects, and platform resources, though specific membership fees are not publicly disclosed. The network generates knowledge through publications (articles, books, newsletters), featured Projects of the Month (e.g., Lettuce House, Burial Societies, Coltivando), and collaborative research, leveraging partnerships with the Cumulus Association, the World Design Organization, and Politecnico di Milano to amplify reach across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America.

Name

Desis Network

Legal name

DESIS Network

Website

https://desisnetwork.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

DESIS Network is a non-profit cultural association operating a global network of higher education institutions committed to design for social innovation and sustainability, coordinating embedded DESIS Labs across six continents through membership and collaborative research.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Design Education Network

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Research Collaboration & Joint Labs (International Partnerships) (EDAIABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Study Abroad Provider Networks, Consortia & Membership Organizations (EDAIAAAK)

Keywords

• Design education network
• Social innovation research
• Design schools consortium
• Sustainable design programs
• Academic design labs

Headquarters

HQ city

Milan

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Contributions: DESIS Network operates as a no-profit and cultural association. Members are higher education institutions or universities with design disciplines that commit to establishing and sustaining a DESIS lab in their institutions. While specific membership fees are not disclosed, members support DESIS activities including labs projects, international initiatives, and platform improvements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

DESIS Network is a no-profit cultural association that coordinates a global network of DESIS Labs housed within higher education institutions with design disciplines. It operates by enabling member universities to establish and sustain on-campus labs that orient teaching and research toward design for social innovation and sustainability, organizes international events and conferences, curates research projects, and publishes thematic resources covering areas such as social cohesion, urban infrastructure, regenerating commons, and university-community engagement.

Product overview

DESIS Network is a non-profit cultural association operating as a global network of design schools rather than a product company. It offers DESIS Labs (academic research groups), Events (conferences, workshops, DESIS Cafes), Resources (newsletters, articles, books), and Thematic Areas (organized focus areas for design for social innovation). The organization connects higher education institutions with design disciplines to generate knowledge and create social change.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DESIS Labs Groups of academics, researchers, and students who orient their design and research activities towards social innovation, operating at the local scale with local partners and participating in large-scale projects and programs in collaboration with other DESIS Labs.
• DESIS Events Virtual and in-person events including DESIS Cafés, Conversations for the Planet, Social Design Days, and General Assemblies that foster dialogue and collaboration within the network.
• DESIS Resources Publications including articles, books, and newsletters documenting research and knowledge in design for social innovation and sustainability.
• DESIS Thematic Areas Organized focus areas including Design for Social Cohesion, Urban Infrastructure, Urban Production, Human/Nature Relationships, Regenerating Commons, University-Community Engagement, and Design With All Beings.

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Cumulus AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDESIS Network collaborates closely with Cumulus Association, an international association of design schools. DESIS hosts sessions, workshops, and cluster meetings at Cumulus conferences globally, including Cumulus Budapest 2024, Cumulus Nantes 2025, and Cumulus South Africa 2025. This partnership enables DESIS to reach the broader design education community and promote design for social innovation.
• World Design Organization (WDO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDESIS Network participates in World Design Impact Prize events organized by WDO. DESIS International Coordinator Teresa Franqueira participated in World Design Talks to present finalist projects using design to make a difference in communities.
• Cape Peninsula University of TechnologyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Botswana DESIS Lab partners with Cape Peninsula University of Technology as part of collaborative African design initiatives.
• University of NairobiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Botswana DESIS Lab collaborates with University of Nairobi on African design network initiatives.
• Makerere UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Botswana DESIS Lab partners with Makerere University for African design collaboration.
• Rio de Janeiro Federal UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Botswana collaborated with Rio de Janeiro Federal University on Africa-Brasil Dialogs project, a collaborative platform for mutual learning on social innovation.
• Politecnico di MilanocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPolitecnico di Milano, through its Polimi DESIS Lab, serves as the home institution for DESIS Network founder Ezio Manzini. The university provides coordination support for the international network and hosts key initiatives.
• CoDesign JournalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDESIS Network collaborated with CoDesign journal on a special issue call for papers focusing on auto-ethnographic writing in social design, inviting contributions from DESIS Labs.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• IDEO U: Online learning and design community spin-out of design firm IDEO, focused on design thinking, social innovation, and human-centered design education. Emerging player: targets a similar audience of practitioners and educators, but operates as a commercial venture rather than a non-profit membership network — a structural differentiator versus DESIS.

Direct peers

• European Academy of Design (EAD): Academic association for design research and education across Europe. Direct peer: EAD convenes design researchers and faculty through conferences and publications, mirroring DESIS's academic-network function for design schools.
• Cumulus Association: International association of universities and art, design, and media education. The closest direct peer: Cumulus is also a network/membership organization of design schools that DESIS actively partners with and leverages for global conference programming (Cumulus Budapest 2024, Nantes 2025, South Africa 2025).
• Index: Design to Improve Life: Danish non-profit that runs the Index Award to recognize design that improves life. Direct peer: highly aligned mission (design for social good), comparable non-profit structure, and similar global events/publishing footprint aimed at design schools and practitioners.
• Buckminster Fuller Institute: Non-profit dedicated to accelerating the development of solutions that support a regenerative future. Direct peer: BFI's design-for-planetary-challenges mission closely parallels DESIS's design for social innovation and sustainability agenda, with similar academic-practitioner community.
• World Design Organization (WDO): International non-governmental organization that promotes the profession of industrial design and the use of design to drive economic, social, cultural, and environmental change. Direct peer: WDO runs the World Design Impact Prize in which DESIS-affiliated projects have been finalists, and shares a social-impact design mandate.
• Stanford Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school): A premier university-based design institute teaching design thinking, innovation, and social impact. Direct peer: d.school operates at the intersection of higher education and design for social innovation — the same intersection that DESIS Labs occupy, with overlapping curriculum and applied research audiences.
• Service Design Network (SDN): Global non-profit network connecting service design professionals and academics. Direct peer: SDN organizes local chapters, hosts conferences, and curates academic content for service design — a parallel model to DESIS with comparable community-led membership structure and adjacent thematic scope.

Broad incumbents

• Royal Society of Arts (RSA): UK-based fellowship with a 260-year history advancing social innovation, design, and public-purpose work. Broad incumbent: RSA operates at significantly larger scale and broader thematic scope than DESIS, but shares the social innovation/design-for-impact orientation and uses fellowships, programs, and publications as engagement mechanisms.
• NESTA (UK Innovation Foundation): UK innovation foundation working on social innovation, creative economy, and design-led public services. Broad incumbent: NESTA is materially larger and broader in scope than DESIS, but operates a comparable model of funding research and convening cross-sector collaborations around social innovation.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/desisnetwork
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@DESISNetworkvideos
• Facebookweb.facebook.com/DESISnetwork
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/desis-network
• Instagraminstagram.com/desis_network

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Desis Network