About SUGAR
Responsible innovation, taught worldwide.
SUGAR connects universities to teach design thinking through intercultural projects with corporate partners.
Our mission
We pursue human-centred solutions and create impact on people, organisations and society through education that follows the SUGAR pedagogy.
Our mission in full
We drive a global movement courageously pursuing human-centered solutions.
We produce impact on people, organisations & society through inspiring educational programs.
We connect universities worldwide to promote excellence in design thinking education, following the SUGAR pedagogy in the context of internationally collaborative, inter-cultural design projects.
Three short videos · 6 min
SUGAR explained in three voices
Three people from the network explain how a course runs, what it takes and what partners bring. Recorded in 2019.
Sushi Suzuki
Associate Professor, Kyoto Institute of Technology
Course structure: from design thinking to proof of concept, run locally at each university.
Tomás Gamboa
Former SUGAR programme manager, University of St. Gallen
Four ingredients of a SUGAR course, and how a new university joins.
Christine Thong
Associate Professor, Design Factory Melbourne
Corporate partners: how closely they work with the teams and why it matters.
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What each video covers
How is a SUGAR course structured?
Global, interdisciplinary teams work with a real corporate partner. The network meets at the Global Kick-Off in late October and the SUGAR Expo in early June.
How do students do global, interdisciplinary collaboration in collaboration with actual corporate partner? And how does a network is organised around it?
In the end of October, the network meets internally for the Global Kick Off to create momentum. In the beginning of June, we hold the final EXPO where all the projects presented their final prototypes and proof of concepts.
What does it take to run a SUGAR course?
Four ingredients: committed students, a team of design thinking teachers, a corporate partner and a member university.
There is a group of committed students, a team of design thinking teachers, a corporate partner and a partner university to run successfully a SUGAR academic course.
How does the corporate partner shape a project?
Christine Thong of Design Factory Melbourne explains why students join SUGAR and why the corporate partner is key to the outcome.
Why are students motivated to join a SUGAR course? How does the corporate partner play a key role in the success of the project outcome? The design thinking experts at each of our local universities are educating the next generation of innovators who use creative problem solving to address future human needs.
How SUGAR began
SUGAR began as a way to join forces across universities. It started with 18 projects a year and has run as many as 31.
We teach design thinking as a six-step cycle. See the method →