The Master's program in Social Design and Sustainable Innovation challenges the existing system and thinks design from the perspective of social and global challenges. The aim is to educate a new generation of designers who can innovate and think critically. You will work with methods such as social design thinking, cooperation, co-creation and other qualitative research methods. Your overarching goals are fairness, transparency and sustainability. Social design, social campaigning, corporate design, interaction design, socially engaged art, digital innovation, exhibition and event design, design practice in the context of visual communication, editorial design, photography, film and UX/UI design as well as design thinking form the cornerstones of the program. Futurology, cultural participation and cultures of care are also integrated into the program.
Our range of study programmes in Design and Sustainability is very diverse. Let yourself be inspired.
Social Design and Sustainable Innovation can significantly change cultural and business organisations, leading to more authentic and digital innovation. Professional skills are derived from mastering the respective design disciplines paired with combined methodologies of social change.
Graduates take up traditional and new design professions with an extended and scientifically sound design, thinking and action approach.
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The Master of Arts degree also prepares students for a doctoral or PhD degree programme, which opens the way, in particular, to academic careers in teaching and research.
In the initial semesters of your Master's programme in Social Design & Sustainable Innovation, you will delve deeply into the fields of social design and design research. You will explore the connections between art, society, and change, as well as learn how to develop impactful social campaigns. Additionally, you will be introduced to marketing and branding strategies.
As you progress through your studies, the focus will shift towards design thinking, covering its various stages: research, synthesis, creation, realisation, and prototyping. Your programme will be complemented by several internships, culminating in your Master's thesis.
We would be happy to provide you with further information, including the complete curriculum.
Social Design Sciences A
6Design Discourse and Practices A: Social Sciences + Communication Design I
6Corporate Design / Design Research + CD + NGO Design
6Social Campaigning / Campaigning Strategy + Art Direction + Photography
6Design Discourse and Practices B: Critical Studies + Communication Design II
6Social Design Sciences B
6Design Discourse and Practices C / Social Media + Film + Experimental Design I
6Interaction Design / Design Thinking +UX/UI Design
6Social Design Innovation / Digital Innovation + Design Thinking Methods
6Design Discourse and Practices D / Social Design Diversity + Experimental Design II
6Social Design Thinking I /Research
6Design Discourse and Practices D / Academic Writing + Editorial Design
6Social Design Thinking II / Synthesis and Creation
6Design Discourse and Practices E / Interdisciplinary Design + Portfolio/ Internship
6Social Design Thinking III / Realization and Prototyping
6Master Thesis + Colloquium
30
Students on SRH Berlin's Master's degree programme in Social Design & Sustainable Innovation worked with the Beirut Museum of Art (BeMA) in the winter semester of 2025/26. The aim was to develop a trauma-sensitive guideline for participatory art programmes in Lebanon. Using methods from the fields of Systems Thinking, Futures Thinking and Social Design Thinking, the team developed the 70-page "Pathfinder Toolkit". This supports artists, educators and community facilitators in creating safe and inclusive creative spaces. The project illustrates how design can promote cultural resilience, strengthen social engagement and drive institutional innovation in complex environments.
Students are designing a community space in a refugee camp in Lebanon. They are using design thinking processes to design the space in such a way that it has an activating effect and can generate creative and positive impulses.
German and Lebanese students deal with the topic of "foreignness and strangeness" in interdisciplinary workshops and create essays, films, photo series, graphics and installations that reflect the reality of life for refugees in Germany and Lebanon.
32bit is a social design startup founded by alumni of the Social Design Master's programme. 32bit offers a fully equipped mobile dental practice to close gaps in medical care in rural areas - this is what drives them: Our vision is a future in which justice is the standard: a world in which everyone - regardless of age, place of residence or state of health - has fair and equal access to high-quality dental services. In an intensive co-creation process, the social design students developed a new corporate design for mobile dentistry. A prototype is already conquering the streets.
The project was developed and designed under the direction of Prof. Ricarda Wallhäuser and in cooperation with 32bit by students Jimena Ramirez Corella, Gina Florian Guzman, Leoni Krasemann, Ayça Mus, Dana Schumacher and Ida Zaninović from the Social Design and Sustainable Innovation master class.
In the "Poster Design for Social Activism" module, students learn how to translate socially relevant topics into strong visual messages. Using research, concept development and design practice, they create posters that encourage dialogue and promote change. Technical training and the exploration of typography, colour and composition strengthen their design skills. Inspired by protest posters, they develop their own works on current social and political issues.
Today, soft and social skills are crucial in addition to hard skills and expertise. That's why SRH University's innovative, successful, and award-winning CORE principle promotes independent and active learning so that you can apply your knowledge directly to projects and your future career—for a clear competitive advantage.
