Launch of NCAD DesignLabs: Civic | Society Made Better
Join us on the 18th November 2025 for the launch of NCAD DesignLab: Civic, a new interdisciplinary hub within NCAD DesignLabs. Launched in association with the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (DPER), DesignLab: Civic will be a national driver for applied design research in public service transformation.
In December 2023, NCAD hosted the launch of the Action Plan for Designing Better Public Services by Minister Paschal Donohoe. Two years on, the launch of NCAD DesignLab: Civic will mark a milestone moment in delivering the next phase of Designing Better Public Services, and will reflect on how service design capability has been nurtured and expanded within the public sector to date. Hosted by internationally-leading service design practitioners, the launch event will look towards a future where design supports participatory governance and asks:
* How can we (re)build trust in our public services, so that citizens and communities feel motivated and supported to participate in collective decision-making spaces?
* How do we create resilient public sector structures that keep transformative efforts on track for the long-term, regardless of shifting political cycles?
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REGISTRATION NCAD HCH Foyer.
All are welcome to join us for the launch. Please register your attendance here.
PROGRAMME
1.30 pm: Registration and lunch
2.00 pm: Welcome and introduction to DesignLab: Civic, Professor Sarah Glennie, Director NCAD
2.15 pm: In it for the long haul: embedding design across government. John Lynch, Founder and Director, Context Studio.
2.45 pm: Better Public Services by Design exhibition - DPER x MA Interaction Design NCAD
3.15 pm: Collaborative service dreaming. Dr Sarah Drummond, Director, School of Good Services, UK.
4.15 pm: Panel discussion and reflections featuring:
----------John Lynch, Director, Context Studio
----------Dr Sarah Drummond, Director, School of Good Services
----------Trevor Vaugh, Public Sector Design Lead, Transformation Policy Unit, DPER
----------Emer Darcy, Head of Strategy and Reform Directorate, Courts Service, Ireland
----------Prof Alex Milton, Head of School of Design, NCAD
5.00 pm: Networking and drinks reception
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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
John Lynch
John Lynch is founder and design director at Context Studio, an award-winning service design studio based in Dublin. His work applies design to help businesses, non-profits, and public sector bodies create better outcomes for the people they serve.
With a background in software development, John's career in design has taken him to Denmark and the U.K., and he's worked with clients across the globe.
He is a voluntary board director at the Institute of Designers in Ireland, has served as co-chair of Service Design Ireland (formerly Service Design Network Ireland), and as a local leader for Interaction Design Association (IXDA) Dublin. He contributed as a member of the Service Design in Government Working Group at Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and co-curated the 2022 "Design in Government, Impact for All" conference in Dublin.
John Lynch LinkedIn | BlueSky | Web | Blog
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Dr Sarah Drummond, Mdes, h.c.
Sarah is a design leader, with a specialism in service and strategic design focusing on balancing the needs of people and planet. She is currently a director at The School of Good Services and runs a film production and creative studio Anthro Bricolage.
Sarah co-founded Snook, an award winning design studio and led the company as CEO for over 12 years. She went on to take a role as the Chief Digital Officer at NEC.
Sarah was given an honorary doctorate from the Glasgow School of Art for services to design in 2019, awarded a Google Fellowship for her work in technology and democratic innovation and was named as Good magazine’s 100 extraordinary individuals tackling global issues in creative ways for CycleHack, an initiative to reduce barriers to cycling.
She is a Scottish Government appointed board member of Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and previously held trustee positions at Withyou, a nationwide mental health, drug and alcohol addiction charity and youth homeless charity, Settle.
Dr Sarah Drummond Bluesky | sarah-drummond.com | good.services | anthrobricolage.com
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