Designer,
Academic,
Researcher.

Dr Idrees Rasouli [BA (Hons). MSc (Imperial). MA (RCA). PhD (RCA). PGCert. SFHEA. FRSA. AoU] is a design leader and strategic change-maker. He is an enabler of creative practice and pedagogy, knowledge exchange partnerships and collaborative research that break boundaries between higher education, business, and society, with deep knowledge and experience in growing initial pilots into mature scaled systems.

︎Profile

Born in Kabul, raised in London, and nurtured in over a dozen countries, Idrees is an award-winning designer, academic, and researcher of products, processes, and places with a focus on innovation and transformation. He is an internationally recognised strategic and transformational leader with a distinguished reputation for driving excellence in education, research, and practice.

Idrees’ career is marked by an unwavering dedication to delivering impactful, future-oriented outcomes for all students, coupled with a proven ability to inspire and uplift diverse colleagues through a collaborative, creative, and visionary approach. Renowned for his forward-thinking strategies, Idrees excels in developing innovative methodologies to enhance cross-cultural learning opportunities, foster cross-disciplinary knowledge exchange, and build mission-led partnerships that extend across diverse regions and complex contexts.

His leadership is characterised by an adeptness in forging strong alliances with industry leaders, governmental bodies, and community organisations, both locally and internationally. These partnerships have facilitated significant advancements in academic and research endeavours, ensuring alignment with global trends, ethical and responsible actions, and socio-economic imperatives. Idrees demonstrates a remarkable ability to navigate and bridge the intersection of education, technology, and industry, driving initiatives that enhance civic participation and resonate on a global scale.

With extensive and diverse experience in higher education and significant industry practice, Idrees is a staunch advocate for equity and inclusivity. He remains deeply invested in addressing systemic barriers and promoting the representation and success of marginalised and global majority groups. His work emphasises creating pathways for underrepresented communities to thrive, especially in the realms of arts and design education and practice. By championing diversity, Idrees has made substantial contributions to cultivating more inclusive environments, leveraging his influence to transform policies and practices that promote equitable opportunities and social impact.

Currently, as an academic leader in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences︎︎︎ (Anglia Ruskin University︎︎︎), Idrees provides mission-led education, research, knowledge exchange and partnerships, with a focus on extending the purpose and offering of arts and design in the 21st century, particularly through ethical, inclusive, and systemic education, research, and practice. He is the Founder & Creative Director of X-Crop︎︎︎, a Cambridge-based research and innovation lab focused on making cities, organisations, and people better by design.

︎Design Leadership

Throughout my professional and academic career, I have consistently pushed boundaries in arts and design education, research and practice, focusing on diversity, sustainability, and inclusivity within creative fields and have won various research and practice awards including: a Daiwa Foundation Award︎︎︎, a InnovationRCA Fellowship︎︎︎, a Dyson Foundation Award︎︎︎, a Wates Foundation Award︎︎︎, and a Core77 Award︎︎︎. I have been awarded scholarhips for design research by Ravensbourne University London︎︎︎ (2015-20) and Anglia Ruskin University︎︎︎ (2021-23) as well as a Dean’s Award for Leadership, and awarded a Senior Fellowship of the UK’s Higher Education Academy︎︎︎.

As a designer, I believe design should start from ‘small things’ — like a tornado that starts from small ideas and gradually turns into a bigger vision. A bottom-up approach that gives more agency to people and have them feel empowered by moving beyond the hierarchical traditions and old methodologies. A connected approach that integrates the immediate context, resources, systems and processes to find the most important problems in our cities, organisations and communities through observing and noticing everyday life conditions, and then trying to capture and turning them into something that’s simple, thoughtful and impactful as well as easy to understand and share.

Trained at the Royal College of Art︎︎︎ and Imperial College London︎︎︎ — I cultivated my leadership skills through 15+ years of extensive practice, pedagogy, and collaboration with a number of world-famous architecture, innovation, design, engineering, and branding companies, such as the Office for Metropolitan Architecture︎︎︎, InnovationRCA︎︎︎, Ramboll︎︎︎, Fortune 500︎︎︎, and Fitch︎︎︎; with direct involvement in projects across a wide range of industries, including technology, automotive, energy, healthcare, transport, fashion, aviation, consumer goods, manufacturing, education, and construction throughout the UK, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

︎Education & Academic Leadership
As a design academic, I am an expert in the design and delivery of knowledge exchange and public engagement activities which offer routes to impact and embed active and inclusive collaborative learning and teaching practices, with significant experience in initiating, developing, and delivering innovative academic practices at FE, UG, PGT, and PGR levels and influencing organisations in the UK and globally.

I am deeply focused on maintaining high academic, research, and practice standards, ensuring consistent successful outcomes for all, and finding innovative ways to scale learning, knowledge exchange, and partnerships without sacrificing quality. I have extensive knowledge and skills in experiential, authentic, and cross-cultural education, as well as student experiences that incorporate decolonisation, inclusion, diversity, employability, and sustainability into the curriculum.

I have a successful and diverse track record in senior academic leadership, management, and enhancement roles spanning disciplines such as arts and design, architecture and urban systems, digital media and communication design, industrial and product-service-system design, engineering and technology; as well as experience in driving change and innovation in a collaborative culture through excellence, influence, and self-esteem. I successfully navigate cross-institutional challenges to enhance and broaden research and educational offerings at the Department, School, and Faculty levels, as well as inspire and mentor diverse staff teams to foster an innovative research culture and provide high-quality education in dynamic environments.

I am a champion of transformative and adaptive leadership styles founded on empathy and transparency, with a focus on change vision and strategy that includes a clear purpose and a strong emphasis on morals and values. For me, leadership entails the transformation (making better) of people, products-services, and environments, guiding and influencing them while also connecting innovations (new ideas) to a common vision.

I have the ability to identify and understand the perspectives and needs of others and respond to those perspectives and needs from a place of care, dignity, and compassion. In so doing, I help people to become better leaders and mobilise their intelligence, creativity, and talent to adapt to the change that is happening. My style of leadership makes me a proponent of codesign, someone who  brings everybody together to work across different fields, departments, and programmes to facilitate collaborations that allow for different approaches towards achieving a shared vision as well as collective and strategic objectives.

As a systems thinker, I understand the changes affecting Higher Education institutions and can bridge the gap between the strategic vision and day-to-day operations by driving efficiency and effectiveness, leading community engagement, and taking on roles that contribute to the vitality of arts and design disciplines and the University. I have built strong purposeful networks and ecosystems with industry, government, and academia to address global, political, and social challenges, generate revenue, seek external funding, and develop pilots into mature scaled programmes.

I am a Senior Fellow [SFHEA] of The Higher Education Academy︎︎︎, a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts︎︎︎, and Academician of The Academy of Urbanism︎︎︎, all of which enable me to actively contribute to the social, cultural, economic, political, and physical development of cities, organisations, and people.

I serve as Deputy Head of Cambridge School of Art︎︎︎  (Education, External Engagement and Enterprise) and Head of Department of Art & Design in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences︎︎︎ at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)︎︎︎(2021-2024). My responsibilities include developing and delivering policies and strategies relating to learning and teaching quality and effectiveness, research and innovation, civic and global engagement, enterprise and knowledge exchange, as well as the development of School and Faculty infrastructure. I provide academic leadership and strategic vision, direction, and management for a community of 1,000+ students and 50+ staff comprising of 1 FE, 10 UG, and 7 PGT & PGR courses.

During this time, I also serve as the Chair of Art & Design, responsible for the strategic direction of arts and design programmes, with a particular focus on vertical and horizontal experiences and progression and new forms of multi-site and shared collaboration integrating practice-based research with teaching and knowledge exchange, as well as evolving arts and design’s relationship to the key local, national, and global challenges and the purpose of an art school in the 21st century.

At CSA︎︎︎, I take a leading role in embedding a culture of values-driven change and strategic societal engagement to foster confidence in arts and design and work with various teams to reposition the school, academic staff, and existing research and academic provision and make them future-facing, global and leading-edge. I lead on the planning and development of formal and informal offerings as well as new and exciting undergraduate and postgraduate courses (including a new postgraduate framework for art & design education), with a focus on extending the school’s arts and design curriculum and portfolio; looking at how we can move beyond disciplinary boundaries towards interconnected, holistic, analytical, decolonial, and entrepreneurial approaches that enable positive contribution to society, health, and planet.

Moreover, I was Head of Department of Architecture︎︎︎ at Ravensbourne University London︎︎︎(2014-2019), where I developed and delivered the department’s academic curriculum and led various design courses, including the world’s first ARB accredited interior design course︎︎︎. I focused on diversity, sustainability, and inclusivity to build high quality academic experiences and stimulating environment for students and staff from diverse backgrounds, and combined pedagogic experimentation and inter / multi / transdisciplinary local, national, and international collaborations to co-create the best propositions for the issues of the built environment and society.

During 2015-2020, I taught design and innovation to postgraduate and research students in the School of Design︎︎︎ at the Royal College of Art︎︎︎ alongside prominent academics and industry leaders, with a focus on cross-cultural design, transnational trends, and context-specific methods and approaches, as well as fostering external relationships that empower staff and enhance student employability and entrepreneurial skills.

Currently, at Anglia Ruskin University︎︎︎, I am building successful ecosystems to enable and support mission-led education, research, knowledge exchange and partnerships. I am the institutional REF29 lead reviewer for UoA 32 (Art & Design) and the Faculty Lead for Academic Activities and Partnerships for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences︎︎︎ and its 4 schools to support and enhance research, teaching, curriculum innovation, validation, and periodic reviews. I also engage in research, enterprise, and scholarly activities to serve the needs of regional and international communities, industries, and governments relevant to the Faculty’s diverse portfolio of disciplines.

I’m also the designer/developer and Director of MA Interior Design Innovation︎︎︎, MA Art, Health, and Wellbeing︎︎︎, and MA Human-Centred Design︎︎︎ programmes, with a focus on extending the purpose and offering of inter/multidisciplinary creative education in the 21st century, particularly through ethical, inclusive, and systemic education, research, and practice. I lead and teach cross-disciplinary modules including: Design Ethics: Human, Planet, and Future Conditions; Care Ethics: Place, Environment, and Community; Design Methods and Contexts; Design Practices: Design for Humanity and Systemic Change; Design Practices: Urban Futures and Smart Inhabitations; Care Practices: Creative Future Health; and Masters Project.

To achieve outstanding results and strategic aims, my strength is in being a key resource in the development, articulation, and delivery of policy and strategy for education, research, and operations, and my principal accountabilities have included;

• Academic leadership and strategic direction, quality assurance and student experience (learning, teaching, and assessment);
• Curriculum development and programme innovation (marketing, admissions, consolidations, validations, and revalidations);
• Research and knowledge exchange (global collaborations, external public engagement, and income generation);
• Development of employability and social / commercial enterprises (transnational and executive education, short courses, and blended learning);
• Civic and global engagement (regional development and internationalisation);
• Financial performance and income generation (budget management, fund raising and investor relations development);
• Professional and scholarly development of colleagues, effective management of academic community, environment and resources, and delivering REF, TEF, and KEF targets linked to the improvement of institutional performance.

Additionally, I served as Chief External Examiner and Course Development Consultant for the School of Design, Architecture, and Interiors︎︎︎ at Falmouth University︎︎︎(2019-2024), where my responsibilities included assessing and monitoring programme structure, content, academic standards, and delivery, as well as offering expert guidance on developing innovative multi-site, digital, and cross-cultural undergraduate and postgraduate design courses.

Until recently, I served on the Board of Advisors for Digital Influx︎︎︎(a world’s first EdTech company that teaches young people User Experience and Design Thinking), my role was to help the company better understand design, technology, education, economics, demographics, geopolitics, and policy. I also served on the Board of Governors for Ravensbourne University London︎︎︎, with responsibility for successfully achieving university status (Taught Degree Awarding Powers-TDAP︎︎︎) and developing research and innovation partnerships with local government, NGOs, and creative industries. Prior to these, I was a member of the Design Innovation Committee for Design Museum︎︎︎(Design Ventura Programme︎︎︎), an annual design challenge for high school students, supported by Deutsche Bank as part of its global youth engagement programme Born to Be), where I helped the museum build partnership and collaboration capacity, advocate for creativity and entrepreneurship, and champion the role of design in transforming society and economy.

︎Research & Innovation Leadership
My overarching research, conducted through private practice, consultancy, teaching, and writing, and in collaboration with global public and private sector organisations, such as the World Humanitarian Forum︎︎︎, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation︎︎︎, Vestre︎︎︎, Crisis Response︎︎︎, and Atlantic Pacific︎︎︎; focuses on tackling our modern society︎︎︎ responsibly and through care by developing culturally, contextually, and geographically significant design methods and methodologies for ethical, inclusive, and systemic change and transformation — which are explored as ‘Design Pivots’ (Rasouli, 2023), a framework for multi / transdisciplinary approaches that seek alternative modernities and broaden the sense of design and impact by diversifying design practice, perspectives, and knowledge systems — with different strands focusing on Human-Connected Design, Design in/for Emergency, Autonomous Design, Decolonised Design, and Design Under Resource Constraints.

My practice-based doctoral research in Innovation Design Engineering at the School of Design︎︎︎ Royal College of Art︎︎︎, examined Decolonised Innovation as the seventh generation of innovation. My research, “Decolonised Innovation; Designing Needs, Dreams, and Aspirations Under Resource Constraints”︎︎︎ was set within transformative design that crossed geographic, cultural, and political borders, and it investigated the effects of social context, environment, and cultural differences on innovation. I researched new methods of innovation by examining how transnationalism, specifically borders (community, city, country, continent), serve as a point of convergence for identity, imagination, and design practice in the least developed, developing, and developed economies.

I am particularly interested in: a) creating a cross-cultural and world-leading research lab [Alternative Design and Innovation Lab - ADIL] to pioneer decolonial, ethical, and responsible design research, pedagogy, and practice, and undo the dominance of a single cultural perspective in the innovation space; and b) leading a multidisciplinary research group [Care and Responsibility by Design – CaReD] that investigates spatially and geo-culturally concentrated design and innovation, as well as their environmental, political, and socio-economic implications in the future.

Additionally, I am interested in pioneering new models of civic and global engagement, knowledge exchange, and enterprise frameworks through my ‘Thinking City’ (Rasouli, 2023) approach that is based on connected urbanism (circular, shared, caring, and joined-up learning and doing) by partnering academia with public, private, and third sector organisations (particularly science and technology), such as the Transport Research Laboratory︎︎︎, Greater London Authority︎︎︎, Ford Motors︎︎︎, and Ogilvy︎︎︎; to conduct research and co-create world-class ideas, prototypes, and new forms of multi-site and shared collaboration that define the future of cities and urban environments, learning and experience, mobility and energy, transaction and trade, health and wellbeing, living and care, work and play.

Idrees’ Thinking City Approach for Strategic Civic and Global Engagement

Practice-led and research-informed, my pedagogy focuses on pioneering new methods and models for partnering professional bodies and employers, as well as public and private sector organisations with academia to shape programmes, connect students and staff to future agendas, and to inform and influence the creative industries, impact the digital economy and contribute to the well-being of people and society.

My teaching encourages an international and cross geo-cultural educational experience through employability-led learning and purposeful engagement with employers, business and industry, encompassing multi-site and shared collaborative projects that challenges stereotypical approaches and methodologies to transform students into entrepreneurs, foster interdisciplinarity, build a sustainable future, and address funding opportunities.

I am often humbled by my students’ and colleagues’ potential, creativity, tenacity, and positivity despite the difficulties they face in education and the industry. Equally, I’m interested in the synergy between [1] the purpose of an art/design school, [2] the advances in technology and science, [3] the needs of the city where the school is based, [4] the stimulus of national and international industries and institutions, and [5] the culture, creativity, and resilience of the school’s multidisciplinary staff and its diverse body of students.

Therefore, I am always curious about how we engage with and bring the [Big 5] together and how we connect all of the complexities of design to the real-world difficulties that people, organisations, and cities face. Simultaneously, I am interested in exploring the art/design school as a 'nexus' to nurture dynamic ecosystems and design as a 'catalyst' to bridge societal gaps. And this is the type of thinking that, I hope, will contribute to making design education more inclusive and design research and practice more relevant to all communities.

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