Kolkata: The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM Calcutta) has taken a significant stride in innovative education by entering a three-way memorandum of understanding (MoU) on March 18th with the School of Design Thinking (SoDT) and Mission Samriddhi. This partnership establishes a Center of Excellence in Design Thinking, with the objective of deeply integrating design thinking principles into IIM Calcutta’s academic curriculum, research endeavors, and projects.

SoDT will play a pivotal role as a strategic collaborator, applying Design Thinking across diverse domains, while Mission Samriddhi will focus on community-centric social initiatives and projects. The collaboration aims to enhance educational methodologies by leveraging SoDT’s “Design The Thinking” mindset, which underscores the importance of design thinking in problem-solving and innovation. Concurrently, Mission Samriddhi intends to leverage its Community Development Framework alongside IIM Calcutta’s research capabilities to promote social initiatives.

This three-year MoU seeks to promote Design Thinking as a fundamental institutional leadership and innovation strategy. IIM Calcutta aims to establish India’s premier Center of Excellence for Design Thinking within a business school, positioning itself as a hub for all Design Thinking initiatives. The School of Design Thinking, renowned for introducing India’s inaugural ‘Design The Thinking®’ program tailored for academia, will support this endeavor by offering specialized courses to students and stakeholders at IIM Calcutta.

Moreover, Mission Samriddhi’s involvement will ensure the creation of sustainable projects capable of scalability to benefit larger populations, particularly targeting rural clusters in collaboration with IIM Calcutta.

This collaboration will introduce a range of courses at IIM Calcutta and implement interventions in Design Thinking applications across various domains. Academic and training programs will also witness the development of modules and assignments centered on Design Thinking, thereby enriching the educational landscape at IIM Calcutta and beyond.