Our Founding Organisations
UCL is a world-leading multidisciplinary university based in Bloomsbury in central London. However, UCL are expanding East, to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. UCL is at Here East where they host GDI Hub, and will develop a new UCL East Campus from 2021. UCL was the first university in England to welcome students of any religion and the first to welcome women on equal terms with men; this spirit of diversity and inclusion permeates all that UCL does.
Loughborough University opened a new campus, Loughborough University London on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in 2015, offering taught postgraduate and research degrees. Comprised of seven institutes, LUL offers a collaborative, innovative and inspiring environment for quality teaching and research.
The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) is the Mayoral Development Corporation responsible for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the former site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. LLDC delivered the 2012 Paralympic Legacy programme that ultimately led to the creation of GDI Hub.
LCF is the only college in the UK to specialise in fashion education, research, and consultancy. LCF believe in using the subject of fashion, together with its industrial importance, to shape lives and drive economic and social transformation. In 2022 LCF will move to a single site on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London.
Sadler’s Wells is a registered charity and a leading creative organisation dedicated to dance in all its forms. With its main theatre in Islington, north London, Sadler’s Wells is expanding East with a new theatre and dance studios being built on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The V&A is a leading museum of art and design in London’s South Kensington museum district. Expanding East, the V&A is building a new outpost on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The V&A holds many of the UK’s national collections as well as huge resources for the study of art and design.
The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design undertakes research and projects that contribute to improving people's lives. HHCD take an inclusive and interdisciplinary approach, working in three research areas; Age & Diversity, Healthcare and Social & Global. It is the longest-running centre for design research at the Royal College of Art
Leonard Cheshire is a charity that supports individuals to live, learn and work as independently as they choose, whatever their ability. Led by people with experience of disability, Leonard Cheshire provide support to disability communities around the world.
Our donor partners
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has been a key donor partner of GDI Hub since we began our journey in 2017 and supports our flagship AT2030 research programme as well as work delivered Innovation Action and the Innovation to Inclusion (i2i) project led by Leonard Cheshire.
AT2030 is our flagship research programme which aims to improve access to life-changing Assistive Technology (AT), reaching over 12 million people across 35 countries. AT2030 brings together global experts, international organisations, local delivery partners, multidisciplinary sectors, and a new collaborative approach to drive change.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), headquartered in the Philippines, finance development projects in the Asia-Pacific region by providing loans, grants, and technical assistance to member countries to foster economic growth and cooperation. GDI Hub has been supporting the ADB to address accessible tourism in Georgia, relating inclusive urban design and infrastructure inspired from regeneration projects in east London following the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The World Bank is an international development bank with 187 member countries. Its mission is to reduce poverty by lending money to the governments of its poorer members in order to help them improve their economies and people's living standards. GDI Hub is working with the World Bank to understand the barriers which prevent access to AT for the people that need it with a focus on those living in low-resource settings.
The Snowdon Trust deliver two grant programmes to disabled students pursuing higher education or vocational training in the UK. The Masters Scholarships fund talented disabled students enrolled in a Masters programme and the Grants fund additional expenditures caused as a result of their disability where statutory funding is insufficient.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is part of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the main funding body for research and training in engineering and the physical sciences. EPSRC has funded various GDI Hub research projects over the years.
The European Commission Horizon 2020 is the largest EU Research and Innovation Programme supported by the leaders and members of the European Parliament. It aims to drive economic growth and create jobs with an emphasis on science and industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges and barriers to innovation. Horizon 2020 has funded the PrimeVR2 project building a multisensory virtual reality platform for people with dystonia, stroke, or musculoskeletal injury.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) leads the Paralympic Movement around the world and oversees the delivery of the Paralympic Games. The IPC supports members in improving Para athletic performance, advocating for social inclusion of disabled people, and increasing global awareness of Para sport.
British Telecommunications (BT) serves consumers in 180 countries as one of the world's largest communications service companies. GDI Hub has developed and delivered a bespoke e-learning module on the principles and practices of Inclusive Design for BT. The module provides an introduction to inclusive design and the incredible value it can bring, enabling BT's extensive workforce to implement inclusive design practices across the business.
Deloitte Digital is part of Deloitte Consulting LLC offering technology and customer-centric design consultancy to their clients with the aim to shape a better future for all.
British Council Egypt aims to develop sustainable communities through partnerships with the Egyptian government, agencies, and NGOs focusing on the inclusion of marginalised groups such as women and girls, disabled people, and children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, funds projects to support economic development, particularly, in low-middle income countries (LMIC). Norad's new 2030 strategy is underpinned by the UN SDGs and aims to prioritise strategic investments in LMICs, focus on sustainable development and green initiatives, champion innovation in develop cooperation, and strengthen knowledge sharing within the agency and with external partners.
Our partners
The Institute of Making is a UCL multidisciplinary research club for those interested in the made world: from makers of molecules to makers of buildings, synthetic skin to spacecraft, soup to diamonds, socks to cities. GDI Hub partners with the Institute of Making on Innovation Action among other projects.
