As the doors open on a new year, Studio Shift celebrates a special milestone: 10 years of design across services, experiences, and social communication.
We embrace these ten years as an invitation to reflect on our journey so far and consider how we wish to continue, as well as what we still want to design together.
We are born with a clear and powerful intuition: to shift, to move, to change and to lift.
From this simple idea comes a constant drive for change.
To us, ‘shift’ means taking a step forward, raising our voice and creating space.
We create communities and spaces in which people actively participate in positive change, where design is a collaborative process and transformation is achieved collectively.
After all, we are much more than a design consultancy; we are a social innovation lab where co-design regenerates more inclusive, sustainable and happier communities.
Over the past ten years, we have listened to stories, shaped visions, tackled uncertainty and envisaged possible futures.
We started out as a network of professionals in 2016 and became a Benefit Corporation in 2022. We believe this legal structure is the most concrete way to permanently embody our vision of value creation in our company constitution. The Benefit form allows us to include in a medium-long perspective, the secondary beneficiaries of our services thus the social and environmental impacts we generate for the common good. This thoughtful, shared decision first emerged during the pandemic: by forcing us to slow down, it enabled us to take a step back and focus on what truly has value for us, both as individuals and as a group.
In addition to our services, we dedicate a portion of our work to pro bono activities and allocate 1% of our annual turnover to projects that generate a positive impact on the planet and, consequently, on those who inhabit it—people and other living beings. We adopt and promote environmentally responsible choices among our clients and develop social inclusion initiatives that support the most vulnerable or underrepresented segments of the population, including children, older people, individuals with disabilities, young jobseekers, foreign nationals, and women.
Last but not least, Studio Shift is a predominantly female-based organisation. Led by a woman, it pays particular attention when it comes to issues of equality and equity in the workplace.
We have regenerated territories, strengthened communities and designed services that prioritise relationships, accessibility and well-being.
Every project has taught us to look further afield. The projects that have excited us the most include:
Participative Futures 4Planet consisted of a co-design festival focused on eco-social innovation. Conducted using the adapted Design Sprint 2.0 method (Shift, 2023), the event took place in Arquino (SO) in September 2024. We worked with a planet-centred approach, practicing design thinking to reconnect humans with Nature and its cycles, while strategically planning services and solutions with high social and environmental impact.
From this project, BeLong and the podcast Valtellina 114 were born.
To discover more have a read here
Design Playfully: Change with a Smile, developed by Studio Shift as part of the #DEMO2024 initiative with the support of the Lombardy Region, featured two events – one in Bari and one in Bergamo – that examined the creative use of design and gamification to encourage positive change and community involvement. Participants could immerse themselves in sustainable design and explore the potential of solar energy to drive an innovative and responsible ecological transition.
To discover more have a read here
Alpha Skills was born from a simple yet empowering idea: to equip young people with the tools to build a better, more sustainable future. Through this project, we were able to refine and trial our career design and educational guidance programme, #FutureMe, with over 300 students in three EU countries. The initiative provides teachers and educators with cutting-edge tools and methodologies to support young people aged 11 to 15 in making educational and career choices. Its focus lay particularly on the exploration of Green Skills to generate a positive impact.
To discover more have a read here
Each collaboration has taught us that change is a collective endeavour.
Today, it’s not just an anniversary we’re celebrating; it’s all the people who have chosen to walk part of the journey with us.
To celebrate our first decade together, we came up with a creative and collaborative idea inviting you, our readers and followers, to join in.
We are launching the Studio Shift Alphabet.
This is a narrative journey that will tell the story of the studio’s identity and working approach month by month through our “Alphabet of Change”. Throughout 2026, we will present:
- Five “Method Words“, which are terms that precisely describe our methodology and are visualised through dedicated graphics.
- Five “Seeds of the Future“, poetic and evocative words accompanied by illustrations representing our goals, aspirations and directions for the coming years.
It is both a practice and imagination journey, of concrete action and vision.
This is the future that we want to design with you, by continuing to provide research, training and consultancy services to social enterprises, public administrations, third-sector organisations, schools and communities.
We invite you to share your thoughts with us by filling out our Google Form. You can leave us a message, a suggestion, some advice, or simply let us know how you imagine Studio Shift in 10 years’ time.
We will collect your words as if they were birthday wishes and postcards from the future, ideally to be sent to the future Studio Shift.
You can write to us here
Our motto remains the same, more alive than ever: Make a Shift.
🎉 Happy birthday to us and thank you for being part of our ongoing story.
January 12, 2026
Make a Shift is Studio Shift's e-magazine, focused on design and social innovation, where you can find articles and case histories of our projects.
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