Empowering design innovation in Albania: Curriculum design methodologies and approaches

The paper has an objective to define what is intended as ‘Innovation in design’ in the context of Albania. Throughout this work, the authors are going to examine the tools of how universities and academia, in this case, POLIS University of Tirana, can foster innovation through research and design curriculum. The concept of innovation in this context of crisis is going to be examined as a matter of research methodology, education vs. industry product development, and customization of social needs. This challenging process of the continuous collaboration between universities and business can lead to a new definition of innovation using research methodologies like design thinking, user-centered design drawing a bottom-up process toward product design.