IN WHAT they’re billing as a national premiere, 11 honours students and two professors from the University of Canberra are strutting their stuff in an exhibition showcasing creative design responses to some of Australia’s most immediate cultural, social and innovation challenges.

“Visionary: What we can create,” the Gallery of Australian Design’s latest exhibition, will be launched this evening by Professor Lyndon Anderson, Dean of Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Canberra and Catherine Dobbin, Director of Policy and Regional Strategy for the New Colombo Plan.

Providing an insight into the creative design thinking and methods of Australia’s leading researchers, issues tackled include the improvement of Australia’s wellbeing, promoting stronger student literacy engagement among students, enabling the elderly to re-engage with their community through design and changes in the representation of World War One during its centenary celebrations.

The world premiere of “Visionary” was held at Redtory Art and Design Factory in Guangzhou in November 2015 and resulted from a study tour of China’s Creative Industries and Creative Economy, undertaken by the students and their professors, from the Faculty of Arts and Design at UC, as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s New Colombo Plan.

Tia Kelly, a graphic design student whose works addressed ‘how to get Canberran citizens to take an average of 10,000 meaningful steps per day’, described the exhibition as a ‘small glimpse’ into Australia’s design community.

‘Visionary: what we can create’, at Gallery of Australian Design, 47 Jardine Street, Kingston, until Saturday, February 27.