Public services

Systemic innovation is a hot topic, not least since 

, the government research council for sustainable development, 

 which aims to solve global challenges. This year, they invited Christian Bason from the Danish Design Center, who shared insights on how systemic change can happen through mission-oriented innovation. He emphasized the importance of understanding people's reality, engaging players across sectors, and shaping shared goal images through co-creation. Bason also pointed out the need for competence to lead not only innovation but collaboration on a societal level.

 focused on systemic approaches and design in their presentation. One of the key takeaways was the crucial focus of making complex issues through, for example, systems mapping and always keeping the user in the centre. Change starts on a human level, even when the transformation needs to happen on a systemic level.

For us who work with design and innovation, it’s essential to keep developing how we communicate complexity and possible ways forward, not to lose engagement and interest in our work.

1. People need to be at the centre of systemic innovation

A recurring item on Innovation Week's agenda is the Top Leader Conversation (Toppledarsamtalet), where, among others, the directors of different authorities discuss current topics. This year, the conversation was centred around a future prototype as an enticing example of what 

 could look like in 2035. This shared experience of a potential future allowed us to have a more visionary discussion on what we'd like society to look like in the future and what we need to do to get there. Vinnova's director also shared how they work with strategic foresight to prepare for the unknown, stay open to different developments and possibilities, and actively contribute to shaping a desirable future.

Strategic foresight has become an essential part of the design toolbox. It shows how design-driven methodology can lead to visualisations that provide us with the tools to gather around shared goals and constructive conversations.

2. Prepare for the unknown to shape the future

The systematic process of strategic foresight.

Innovation quickly becomes something abstract. Many have experiences from inspiring workshops that, in the end, didn't result in any tangible change. With user needs-driven and iterative processes, service design is an effective tool to avoid getting stuck in only theoretical plans without action. Gothenburg Municipality presented an excellent example of how they quickly started to create real change in the organisation through 

, a design-driven innovation process. The Swedish Tax Authorities, Skatteverket, and Region Jämtland Härjedalen also shared their experiences of 

, where they specifically lifted how they have gone from theory to practice, from thinking to acting.

Innovation is still a term that is often associated with technology and digitalisation. For us as designers, it's encouraging to see that design-driven innovation works in many different situations, contexts, and organisations, from organizational transformation to designing smooth and positive experiences of public services and behavioural change to enable systemic transformation. What is essential in all these situations is to put people at the centre and start testing.

Systemic innovation and a desirable future