When the Service Design Academy was awarded full accreditation from the Service Design Network we were thrilled. Months of hard work to meet their demanding criteria had paid off. Then realisation sunk in. Not only had we achieved this accolade, but as the very first organisation in the world to do so. This is something we feel proud of. It’s a defining moment in our history.
It’s so important to us to receive this endorsement because for nearly two decades the Service Design Network has led the field in the development of service design education. They are the Service Design body that drives service design thinking. They inspire thousands of people and organisations to improve services to make lives better.
Our consultants had to complete the SDN’s rigorous assessment process to show that the quality of their service design knowledge and delivery skills is world class.
SDA lead consultant Katie Murrie achieved SDN Master Trainer Accreditation with consultants Chris Muir and Dr Jo McNicoll SDN Trainer Accreditation. They join a select pool of certified trainers equipped to deliver the highest quality of service design training on a global-wide scale. They attend inner circle SDN events and are offered opportunities that allow them to further develop their professional skills.
What’s more, as an international educational provider of service design content, we’re now part of the SDN Academy . An educational initiative introduced by SDN and executed in tandem with the global community of SDN-Accredited Trainers and Master Trainers. In the years to come thought leaders and delegates will come from all over the world to our centre of excellence in Dundee. They’ll offer a series of continuing education courses for seasoned practitioners and service design newbies alike.
SDN and SDA are committed to advancing practitioner knowledge. Together we’ll share insights on the latest tools, methods and techniques to shape the future of our industry.
Our courses have undergone extensive audit to ensure that they follow state of the art learning in service design. This includes the latest knowledge in both theory and practice. We provide regular reactions from delegates to SDN. Our curriculum is frequently reviewed and improved based on feedback and developments within the field.
We believe that listening to our customers and learning from industry experts is the only way for us to make the best possible impact. SDN president and chair Birgit Mager has been our critical friend, offering guidance, encouragement and inspiration.
From meeting us in Amsterdam Birgit was convinced that SDA had the potential to lead in the global service design education community. We were determined to do this by focusing on:
- engaging all participants, encouraging shared thinking and collaborative working
- promoting learning & independent learning
- using a variety of approaches and methods
- designing programmes to meet both organisational and participant need
- developing quality materials including digital workbooks, online toolkits of downloadable templates, expert insight videos and content from Touchpoint, the Journal of Service Design
Through working to these goals in SDN’s Organisational Accreditation initiative, the SDN has acknowledged that we’ve reached a leading level of knowledge and quality in education in the service design community.
We’ve come this far in a relatively short time. Our growth has come from not forgetting our service design principles and values. We’ll also be reminded of them as we continue to facilitate change and innovation.
Thank you
The impact that we make for organisations and our world first SDN full accreditation is validation for the effort we have made to offer quality and unique learning experiences. We are proud of how we have grown, and also incredibly grateful for the support and learning we have been given from our friends across the Service Design community. We couldn’t have done it without you.
We are particularly grateful to all our delegates and the organisations we have worked with. We look forward to many more inspiring collaborations in the future.
Our thanks go to the accreditation committee for all their guidance and support:
Birgit Mager
Richard Ekelman
Satu Miettinen
Shelley Evenson
Stefan Moritz
Find out more about becoming an SDN Accredited Trainer
