The Importance of Transformation Design in Transdisciplinary Design Education

This reflection explores how transformation design can serve as a powerful framework for reimagining design education in response to complex social, ecological, and systemic challenges. Drawing from experiences as an Academic Fellow at BITS Design School, the piece highlights the often-overlooked role of educators who work between faculty and students, translating ideas, facilitating learning journeys, and nurturing meaningful connections across disciplines.

Through examples from transdisciplinary teaching and collaborative learning environments, the article examines how design education can move beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries toward more regenerative, relational, and systems-oriented approaches. It offers an insider’s perspective on the processes, tensions, and possibilities that emerge when education itself becomes a site of transformation, preparing learners not just to solve problems, but to engage thoughtfully with the complexity of the world around them.