Academy for Design Innovation Management: a London-based network advancing design-led change
The Academy for Design Innovation Management (ADIM) is an independent, international network dedicated to building a thriving community of design innovation management researchers. From its London base, ADIM convenes academics, doctoral candidates and practitioners who study—and apply—design as a strategic lever for innovation across organisations, sectors and society. Its activities centre on knowledge creation and collaboration: convening conferences, curating workshops and sharing current research online to accelerate progress in the field.
What the Academy for Design Innovation Management does
A platform for knowledge creation and collaboration
ADIM serves as a hub where research is produced, exchanged and translated into practice. It fosters collaboration among members and interested partners by hosting rigorously reviewed academic gatherings and by providing channels for sharing new work between events.
Core subject areas
ADIM’s intellectual focus spans the most consequential questions in contemporary design research:
Strategic Design
How design decisions shape organisational direction, competitive advantage and long-term value.
Innovation Management
Frameworks, capabilities and governance that enable organisations to turn ideas into impact.
Design Thinking
Human-centred approaches to discovering opportunities, framing problems and prototyping solutions.
Design Policy
The role of design in public policy, from capability-building in government to systems-level change.
Service Design
End-to-end service improvement and innovation across public, private and third sectors.
Design for Social Change
Design methods that empower communities and address societal challenges with measurable outcomes.
Origins, milestones and scholarly outputs
Roots and early activity
ADIM’s lineage is closely tied to a growing global design-management community. Prior to ADIM’s flagship event, the network’s organisers were involved with the Design Management Academy 2017—a set of peer-reviewed international conference proceedings that laid important groundwork for a recurring, research-intensive gathering.
The first ADIM-branded international conference (2019)
The Academy for Design Innovation Management 2019 London International Research Conference—hosted by Loughborough University London—marked a formal milestone. Held 19–21 June 2019 at Here East in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the event brought together global researchers under the theme “Research Perspectives in the Era of Transformations.”
Proceedings and indexing
ADIM publishes the Conference Proceedings of the Academy for Design Innovation Management (ISSN 2632-0045), providing an accessible, citable record of peer-reviewed research across its thematic tracks. These proceedings are edited by leading scholars in the field and are publicly documented in international registries.
Activities and community in practice
Conferences that set the research agenda
ADIM’s conferences are organised around curated tracks spanning social impact, policy, education and the transformation of design practices. Calls for papers are peer-reviewed and published in the open, ensuring a high academic standard and a rich mix of perspectives from around the world.
Workshops and hands-on methods
Alongside paper sessions, ADIM emphasises workshops and interactive formats. These sessions translate theory into practice, introduce novel research tools and foster collaboration across institutions and disciplines—one reason the network is recognised for its community ethos as much as its scholarship.
Ongoing knowledge-sharing
Between major events, ADIM’s website and partner channels spotlight calls, updates and curated resources so that researchers can keep building on each other’s work. The emphasis is on utility and openness: making it easier for scholars and practitioners to discover relevant studies, methods and networks.
At a glance: key facts
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Website: https://designinnovationmanagement.com (official site)
- Phone: Not publicly listed. For event and proceedings queries, use the published email contact adim@designinnovationmanagement.com.
- Headquarters / base: London, United Kingdom. ADIM events and proceedings have been associated with Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, 3 Lesney Avenue, London E15 2GZ, via Loughborough University London’s conference hosting.
- Founded: Operating as an international research network by 2019 (first ADIM-branded international conference and proceedings); with roots in earlier 2017 design-management conference activity.
- Specialities: Events and conferences; research networks and community-building; workshops; and scholarship across Strategic Design, Innovation Management, Design Thinking, Design Policy, Service Design, and Design for Social Change.
Why ADIM matters
For researchers
ADIM offers a high-signal venue to publish and debate work at the intersection of design and innovation—complete with peer-review, proceedings and an international readership. That visibility can accelerate academic careers and seed cross-institutional projects.
For doctoral candidates and early-career scholars
The network’s mix of tracks and interactive sessions creates generous entry points: you can test emerging methods, get feedback from leaders in the field and build your supervisory and collaborative networks with intention.
For educators and programme leads
Curricula in design innovation move quickly. ADIM events highlight fresh methods (from participatory policy labs to service prototyping) and showcase case-based teaching materials suitable for master’s and executive education.
For practitioners and policy-makers
If you work in industry or government, ADIM surfaces evidence-based approaches to design-led change—from service transformation to policy innovation—grounded in real programmes and measurable outcomes.
How to engage with the Academy for Design Innovation Management
1) Explore the website and proceedings
Start with the official site—https://designinnovationmanagement.com—to explore themes, track calls and browse published proceedings. The site is the canonical source for event information and publication announcements.
2) Watch for calls and submit your work
Calls for papers clearly outline tracks, themes and deadlines, and provide a single point of contact for questions (typically via the organisers’ email). Submissions are peer-reviewed, and selected papers appear in the ADIM proceedings (ISSN 2632-0045).
3) Propose a workshop or panel
Workshops are a hallmark of ADIM’s community practice. If you have a method to teach or a topic that benefits from co-creation, propose an interactive session alongside your paper. It’s an effective way to build collaborations and turn research into tools others can apply.
4) Connect at events—and between them
Whether presenting, reviewing or facilitating, participation expands your network across universities and sectors. Between conferences, keep engaged through the website and organisers’ updates to stay on top of new calls, special issues and collaborative opportunities.
SEO notes for discoverability
To help prospective members and contributors find the Academy for Design Innovation Management, ensure your profiles and publications reference terms such as “design innovation management,” “strategic design,” “service design,” “design policy,” “design thinking,” and “design for social change.” When describing your involvement, include the full name Academy for Design Innovation Management and, where relevant, the London location and ADIM conference year for clarity.
Final thought
As research and practice in design continue to converge, the Academy for Design Innovation Management provides a trusted, London-anchored forum where ideas are tested, methods mature and collaborations scale. If your work sits at the nexus of design and innovation, this is a community built to amplify it.
