Decolonising service design education: A case study of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's Programme in Service Design Strategies and Innovations (SDSI)

Abstract

As calls to decolonise design and higher education intensify globally, service design education in Europe has largely remained insulated from critical decolonial discourse. In an era marked by inequality, ecological collapse, and epistemic crises, rethinking how we teach, learn, and design has become increasingly urgent. This thesis addresses that gap by critically examining whether decolonisation - as concept, critique, and commitment - can inform more just and inclusive pedagogical and curricular practices within an international postgraduate programme: the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s in Service Design Strategies and Innovations (SDSI).

Employing a qualitative, exploratory case study approach grounded in interpretivist and critical realist paradigms, the study combines co-reflective workshops, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, autoethnography, and document analysis. It investigates the emotional responses, conceptual understandings, dominant narratives, and practical recommendations of SDSI students, faculty, and founders. Findings reveal wide-ranging emotional reactions: from scepticism and discomfort - especially among founders - to growing curiosity, reflexivity, and critical engagement among students and faculty. While founders framed decolonisation through historical or defensive narratives, faculty and students articulated nuanced critiques of Eurocentrism and systemic exclusion, calling for pluralistic approaches to service design education.

The research offers practical, stakeholder-informed recommendations and outlines a 12-month participatory roadmap toward a more reflexive and pluriversal SDSI. It argues that decolonising service education requires more than token inclusion or curricular add-ons; it demands an ethical and epistemological reimagining of what knowledge matters, how it is produced, and who it serves. Ultimately, this thesis positions decolonisation not as a checklist or trend, but as a transformative imperative for building more just, caring, and relational futures in and through design education.